By Michael Wacht

LAKELAND — Seven hundred Florida Conference United Methodist churches have been asked to give approximately $17 million this year to support the ministries and missions of the conference. Ninety-three of those churches are responsible for more than 50 percent of the $17 million, with each asked to pay $50,000 or more.

That report comes from statistics compiled by Dr. Randy Casey-Rutland, the conference’s treasurer and statistician.

The statistics also show that 191 churches were asked to pay less than $5,000 each and together account for less than 3 percent of the conference’s budget.

"I was surprised at the large number of small churches and the small number of large churches," Casey-Rutland said, adding that small and large referred to the amount of money, or the apportionments, the churches are asked to give, not their membership. "I had the sense that there were more middle-sized churches. I was not aware of the large number of small churches."

During the first week of the new year churches received statements showing the amount they are asked to pay during 2001. Their deadline to send final payments on 2000 apportionments to the treasurer’s office was Jan. 8.

"It’s easy to look at all of this [apportionments] negatively," Casey-Rutland said. "At both extremes, large and small, churches look at the amount of apportionments and wonder if it’s worth it. The United Methodist Church is a diverse church in theology, ethnic make-up…financial standing and salaries. Our diversity is both a strength and a challenge."

The strength, he said, is that there are large churches that can give a great deal of financial support to the conference. The challenge is finding a way to share that financial support fairly. The Conference’s Council on Finance and Administration is in the process of looking at the apportionment system and finding ways to improve it, Casey-Rutland said.

Casey-Rutland said he was also surprised by the difference between the amounts large and small churches are asked to pay. St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Orlando is asked to pay the most, approximately $250,000. By comparison, it takes the total amount 140 of the smallest churches are asked to give to equal what St. Luke’s gives.

The average apportionment for all churches in 2001 is $24,306. Slightly more than 30 percent, or 213 churches, are asked to pay more than the average, and 487 churches are asked to pay less. The 30 percent paying more are responsible for 75 percent of the conference budget.

"The financial health of our conference depends very heavily on those…churches participating fully in our apportionment system," Casey-Rutland said.

Every district has churches ranked among the largest and smallest in the conference. Of the 93 churches giving more than $50,000, 12 are in the West Palm Beach District. Jacksonville, Orlando and St. Petersburg each have 10. The DeLand, Gainesville and Miami districts each have two.

Of the 191 churches giving less than $5,000, there are 54 are in the Gainesville District, 19 in the Leesburg District and one in the St. Petersburg District.

"Looking at apportionments provides one way — a financial way — of looking at churches," he said. "You can’t assume anything about membership…growth…or ministry from looking at these numbers."

Apportionments are a calculation of each church’s portion of the conference’s annual budget, which pays for Florida Conference staff, programming and facilities, including the Leesburg camp complex. The conference also administers the clergy health insurance and pension programs and supports having a bishop and district superintendents.

Each church is asked to pay a portion, or an apportionment, of the conference’s annual budget, based on the year-end statistical reports submitted by the churches that show how they spent their money, Casey-Rutland said. The 2001 apportionments are based on the 1999 reports.

The combined expenses for all Florida Conference churches in 1999 totaled more than $110 million. "That’s $110 million spent on mission and ministry," Casey-Rutland said. "That’s a lot of hospital visits, youth and children’s ministry, pies given out to newcomers…a lot of wonderful activities across the state."

A church’s percent or portion of the conference budget is determined by dividing the church’s expenses by the combined total expenses for all churches. That percentage is then multiplied by the conference budget to generate the amount it will be asked to pay.

If a church’s expenses for 1999 were $1.1 million, its portion of the $110 million total would be 1 percent. That church would then be asked to pay 1 percent of the conference’s $17 million budget, or $170,000. A church with an $11,000 budget accounts for .01 percent of the conference’s expenses and would be asked to pay $1,700 in apportionments.

A church’s expenses include compensation for its lay and clergy employees and program and operating expenses.

The apportionment system received close scrutiny during 2000 because of a $777,021 budget deficit in 1999, which was reported to the conference last June. A special session of the annual conference was held in October to address budget-related issues.

This article is the second in a series on apportionments. Future articles will show how the Florida Conference compares to other conferences and how Florida United Methodists feel about the apportionment system. The Review invites your comments on apportionments. Please submit your opinions in writing to The Florida United Methodist Review, P.O. Box 3767, Lakeland, FL 33802, or by e-mail to MWacht@flumc.org. Selected submissions will be published in a future edition of the Review.