……SOMETHING YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT!
Our church is a member of the United Church of Christ (UCC), which has several geographic divisions or conferences. Our conference is the Southern New England Conference of the UCC (SNEUCC).
In 2017 the SNEUCC passed the following:
“Proportional Giving (PG) replaces a Local Church’s giving to Conference and National UCC through Membership Dues and OCWM Basic Support. Instead, the church’s PG contributions are based on its historic giving level in relation to its Total Income in a given year. If church income decreases, wider church giving decreases proportionally, while wider church given would increase proportionate with increased income.”
In 2019, at the recommendation of our Trustees and Rev. Medeiros, we started Proportional Giving, changing the way we determined our donations to the UCC and SNEUCC.
Are you confused??? Let’s try to make Proportional Giving clearer!
Proportional Giving (PG) changed the way we contribute to Our Christian Wider Mission (OCWM) and Conference Dues, through the SNEUCC. This means that 5.7% is our “proportional percentage” which will be used each year to figure how much will be forwarded to SNEUCC for Proportional Giving. Before PG, only the donations specified for these two accounts were sent to the SNEUCC.
Why should I know about Proportional Giving?
Since our PG contributions are based on the amount of our total income, they will increase or decrease proportionally with our income.
If the amount of our congregants’ contributions to PG are less than the 5.7% of our total income, then funds from Local Mission will be used to make up the difference and sent to the SNEUCC.
What is Local Mission? This is amount in our annual budget that is allocated to fuel oil electricity, staff salary, Pastor’s salary, building insure, postage and the like.
An example: In 2022 the actual amount received for PG was $2,343 less than the 5.7% of our total income. So, $2,343 had to be taken from the Local Mission to make up the difference to be sent to the SNEUCC for Proportional Giving.
What can I do?
This fall when you consider your pledge for 2024 you will be able to specify the amount for Local Mission and the amount for Proportional Giving. This will be helpful as the Trustees create the 2024 budget.
| These contributions are NOT included in PG and are not included in the total income used to calculate our 5.7%: The Christmas Fund One Great Hour of Sharing Neighbors in Need Thanksgiving Offering Easter Offerings & other special offerings Westminster Food Pantry % other local missions | What is included in Our Christian World Mission (OCWM)? OCWM contributions, managed by the UCC, have funded a wide range of resources and services including: * assisting theological students, offering mission trips for Volunteers * endorsing military chaplains, providing micro-loans to assist families in Africa, and so much more. No single church could support the world in these ways, but together OCWM makes this possible. |