This document discusses connectional giving in the United Methodist Church. It explains that gifts from United Methodists support ministries at the local, annual conference, and general church level. There are seven general funds that annual conferences apportion to local churches to support churchwide ministries. These include funds for world missions, clergy education, Africa University, and administration. Special Sundays and other offerings provide additional support for specific ministries like disaster relief and peace initiatives.

1. LMPN Session 9 Homework Understanding Connectional Giving Page 1
Understanding Connectional Giving
In Session 2 (“United Methodism 101”), we learned that gifts of United Methodists
support the work of the local congregation, district, annual conference and The United Methodist
Church here and around the world. The General Conference (the worldwide United Methodist
legislative gathering every four years) approves a budget for our connected ministries and sets
the share for each annual conference to give in support of the budget. Each annual conference
determines its own financial needs and “apportions” both amounts to local churches.
Apportionments are sometimes referred to as “a portion meant for others.” Conference
and general church apportionments are just one way people are connected, through their giving,
to more than 11million other United Methodists. Through this connection, we share the needs
and struggles of our brothers and sisters around the world. According to umcgiving.org, the cost
of our Christ-centered global ministry is significant, but it is only a tiny portion of a local church’s
budget. With every $1,000 given in offering:
• $854 stays in the local church
• $119 goes to jurisdictions: annual conferences and districts
• $21 goes to general apportionments
• $5 goes to other general funds. (e.g., the Advance for Christ, Special Sundays, etc.).
(Your church's expense figures will vary. depending on your support of annual conference
benevolences.) Source: General Council on Finance and Administration data, May 2010.
Seven general church funds are apportioned to each annual conference, representing
the goals and mission the church has adopted at the General Conference. The annual
conference then apportions a fair share amount of that amount to each local church, using a
conference-approved formula. The seven general funds of The United Methodist Church are:
World Service Fund
The most extensive of the seven funds, World Service dollars support the bulk of the
mission and ministry of the global church. The World Service Fund helps to build new
churches, pay missionary salaries, expand Bible studies, provide leadership for youth
ministry, and much more. World Service is the financial lifeline to a long list of Christian
mission and ministry throughout the denomination. By giving to World Service, we each
play our part in doing God’s work in the world.

2. LMPN Session 9 Homework Understanding Connectional Giving Page 2
Ministerial Education Fund
From our very beginnings the Methodist movement has placed a high value on an
educated clergy. The Ministerial Education Fund is essential for The United Methodist
Church to continue its commitment to recruit and educate quality pastoral leadership.
Helping to defray the steep costs of getting a seminary education, the Ministerial
Education Fund also equips our annual conferences with local-pastor courses of study,
continuing education and many other efforts to recruit, educate and support people called
to ordained and licensed ministry.
Africa University Fund
Africa University is the only General Conference-approved degree-granting institution of
higher education supported by The United Methodist Church on the continent of Africa.
Men and women from 27 countries in Africa receive postsecondary education and
postgraduate degrees. When we support the Africa University Fund, we nurture students
in Christian values and develop visionary leaders.
Interdenominational Cooperation Fund
This fund enables representatives of our church to be in dialogue with persons from other
faith communities. The Interdenominational Cooperation Fund enables United Methodists
to have a presence and a voice in the activities of several national and worldwide
ecumenical and interreligious organizations. It provides the United Methodist share of the
basic budgets of these organizations and pays travel expenses of United Methodist
representatives to meetings that advocate for unity among the worldwide Christian church.
Black College Fund
Through the Black College Fund, The United Methodist Church helps the 11 historically
Black United Methodist-related colleges and universities to maintain solid and challenging
academic programs, strong faculties and well-equipped facilities. Their graduates—
teachers and doctors, ministers and bishops, judges, artists and entrepreneurs—are
leaders nationally and internationally.
Episcopal Fund
Bishops are an integral part of the spiritual and administrative leadership of The United
Methodist Church. We elect and consecrate bishops to speak to and from the church. This
fund pays bishops’ salaries and covers office and travel expenses. It also provides their
pension and health benefits coverage.

3. LMPN Session 9 Homework Understanding Connectional Giving Page 3
General Administration Fund
This fund attends to the business of The United Methodist Church by ensuring trustworthy
systems of oversight and financial accountability are executed and followed. The fund finances
the administrative activities of the church, in addition to underwriting the basic costs of General
Conference, funding the Judicial Council’s work, maintaining United Methodist official documents
and historic artifacts, and designating historic shrines, landmarks and sites.
These seven apportioned funds are the basic contribution of local churches and Annual
Conferences for being “connected” to the church’s worldwide ministry. We call them our “first
mile giving.” We also offer opportunities to go “the second mile.” That’s where we find the
Special Sundays, the Advance for Christ, and World Service Special Gifts.
Special Sundays
Human Relations Day
The Sunday closest to the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday, this offering supports work to
strengthen the fabric of communities and to bring healing (social, economic, emotional) where
needed and to improve the quality of life. This day of social action and raising awareness aims to
heal social ills at the national level through community development, volunteer services, and
youth offender rehabilitation programs.
One Great Hour of Sharing
The United Methodist Committee on Relief works to alleviate human suffering—whether caused
by war, conflict or natural disasters—with open hearts and minds. Because UMCOR does not
receive World Service funds or any other apportionments, the costs of doing business are
underwritten by the One Great Hour of Sharing offering. This means that all giftsdesignated to
specific programs can go 100% to those programs because UMCOR’s basic expenses are
covered. The offering for “One Great Hour of Sharing” happens the fourth Sunday in Lent.
Native American Ministries Sunday
Native American Ministries Sunday recognizes and supports the contributions of Native
Americans to the church and society. Native American Ministries Sunday gifts help develop and
strengthen Native American ministries within the annual conference if the conference has Native
American ministries. If an annual conference has no Native American ministries the offering is
used to expand the number of target cities in the Native American Urban Initiative. It also
provides scholarships for Native Americans attending United Methodist schools of theology and
other schools approved by the University Senate of The United Methodist Church.

4. LMPN Session 9 Homework Understanding Connectional Giving Page 4
World Communion Sunday
World Communion Sunday funds World Communion Scholarships with at least one-half of the
annual amount reserved for ministries beyond the United States. Gifts also provide for U.S. ethnic
scholarship and ethnic in-service programs.
Peace with Justice Sunday
Peace with Justice Sunday offerings support programs that advocate for peace and justice at
home and around the world. Half of the offering stays in the annual conference, retained to fund
local peace with justice programs and the other half of the offering is remitted to the General
Board of Church and Society to help fund U.S. and global work in social action, public policy
education and advocacy.
United Methodist Student Day
United Methodist Student Day supports United Methodist scholarships and the U.M. Student
Loan Fund. Annual conferences participating in the Rebate Program may award one or more
merit scholarships to United Methodist students. Participating conferences may award
scholarships to U.M. students who reside in the conference and who attend or will attend a U.M.-
related college or university.
The Advance
Through The Advance, individuals, groups and congregations may choose to donate to any of
many ministries and missions in the United States and around the world. The General Board of
Global Ministries approves all projects, and 100 percent of all donations goes directly to the
cause, with administrative costs paid by World Service – a clear example of first mile giving
making possible second mile giving!
World Service Special Gifts
The 1984 General Conference approved World Service Special Gifts (WSSG) to enable general
agencies to appeal directly to constituencies for specific project funding and second-mile,
designated-giving, as authorized by the Connectional Table. The Lay Missionary Planting
Network, one of only five authorized projects, is the most recent, approved in November of 2009.
Half of the funds received for the Lay Missionary Planting Network support the conference
trainees in active network areas; the other half supports the work of GBOD to sustain the project.
To learn more about any of these connectional giving opportunities, please visit
umcgiving.org. For specific information about the Lay Missionary Planting Network, or to support
the LMPN WSSG fund (#11-19-09), please visit path1.org/lmpn.