LAKELAND — The sun blazed outside the Lakeland Center, but an ominous cloud loomed inside as the Florida Conference’s Council on Finance and Administration (CF&A) presented its 2004 budget during the last business session of the conference’s May 27-30 annual gathering here.

The CF&A report painted a grim portrait for the coming year and included a request for a $1 million line of credit from a lending institution in the event of a financial shortfall. The request was granted.

The money is needed for lean financial months, according to Dr. Randy Casey-Rutland, the conference’s treasurer.

“I am cautious and concerned about the health of our day-to-day operational finances,” Casey-Rutland said in an interview with the “Review” after the conference event. “...borrowing money to address our day-to-day operational cash flow needs is a bad solution, but nonetheless it may be our best alternative in a very difficult situation.

“Unless things change, I think it is likely that we will need to borrow money at some point to meet our cash flow needs…”

The conference’s financial problems were detailed in a lengthy report that revealed a budgeting quagmire. Although there are numerous worthy endeavors being undertaken by conference ministries, such as new church starts and the new Office of Congregational Transformation, there’s only so much money available to fund the many initiatives, according to CF&A.

The numbers are also misleading at first glance. The Florida conference is the top dollar-generating conference in the United States, but there are few areas of the budget that can be adjusted.

Two major areas represent giving to the General Church, amounts that are fixed by general conference. The General Church requirement and clergy support areas of the budget account for about two-thirds of the total budget. As a result, the bulk of the reductions must be taken from the remainder of the budget, which includes such areas as conference programs and ministries, new church starts, and conference services and administration.

Delegates approved CF&A’s recommended 2004 budget of $18,716,940, an increase of $685,405 or 3.8 percent more than 2003.

Of the total budget about 36 percent goes to the general and jurisdictional church, 30 percent is for conference clergy and support expenses, 11 percent is for conference services and administration, 4 percent will help start new churches in the conference, and 19 percent is for conference ministries and programs.

District apportionments are approved at district conferences each fall and not included in the budget. They vary by district, but collectively total between $3.5 million and $3.75 million.

Casey-Rutland said that through May 2003 general church and conference-level apportionments are at 30.4 percent, about 2 percent or $170,000 lower than last year. District level apportionments collectively are at 32.2 percent, about 2 percent or $50,000 lower than last year. Giving to conference and general church specials is also lower, and giving to the Florida United Methodist Children’s Home is $100,000 less than this time last year.

A large portion of churches not fully paying their apportionments hinders conference finances, Casey-Rutland said.

While he’s not sure there is one solution to improving the conference’s financial situation, Casey-Rutland has some ideas of where to start. He suggests the conference do several things well at the same time—better stewardship education and motivation generally, better education on apportionments, a successful conference-wide capital fund-raising initiative, continued restraint on budget growth and continued careful stewardship of current financial resources.

Casey-Rutland urged delegates to pay their apportionments as soon as they returned to their churches.

The Rev. James Harnish, pastor of Tampa’s Hyde Park United Methodist Church, is optimistic in the face of financial trouble.

“The decline in apportionment giving not only reflects the financial pain in local churches due to the decline in the overall economy, but it also points to a problem in our denominational funding system which continues to ask for more and more money from fewer and weaker congregations,” Harnish said. “My hope is that the financial crisis will force us to ask serious questions about how a denomination that continues to lose membership can, at the same time, continue to increase denominational budgets.”

CF&A made a number of recommendations that were approved, including:

n providing mileage reimbursement at the Internal Revenue Service’s allowable business rate;

n basing housing allowances on prevailing rental rates in the area;

n using the fair share formula to determine local church apportionment for conference and General Church budget areas;

n requiring expenditures to be in accordance with the provisions of the “Book of Discipline” and conference’s Standing Rules;

n requiring all ministries seeking funding at the 2005 conference to submit their budget requests to the conference treasurer by Jan. 15, 2004; and

n empowering CF&A, in consultation with Bishop Timothy W. Whitaker, to act on financial matters between Annual Conference sessions.