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BY MELISSA LAUBER
UMCONNECTION STAFF

The budget is a numerical plan and a vital expression of the vision of the Baltimore-Washington Conference to 'call, equip, send and support spiritual leaders to make disciples and grow 600 Acts 2 congregations by 2012,' the Rev. Charles Harrell said as he unveiled the 2008 figures May 26.

Harrell, president of the conference Council on Finance and Administration, presented the stewardship report to the 1,600 members of annual conference, who adopted the $33,028,578 budget.

This year?s budget, Harrell explained, reflects the conference?s new organizational structure that focuses on resourcing local churches.

In the new structure, regional gbwc_superuseres, who provide personalized ministry assistance and resources to every local church, take the place of a conference-centered, programmatic approach to ministry, he explained. This change is reflected in the way the budget is organized.

Conference members also adopted a benevolence factor of 22.5 percent. This percentage of what churches spend on themselves each year is used to determine how much apportionments will be paid to support connectional ministries.

The conference has a goal of reducing the benevolence factor to 19.5 percent by the year 2012. This year?s reduction is a quarter of a percentage point ahead of the goal, Harrell reported.

Another of the conference?s goals is for each church to pay 100 percent of its apportionment. In 2006, there was a collection rate of 90.52 percent, up .74 percent from the previous year.

In the debate on the budget, Lawrence Staten of Union UMC in Aberdeen made an impassioned motion to increase funding for young adult ministries by $64,000 to $96,000 in order to pay for three staff positions.

Those opposed to the additional funding pointed out that it was in opposition to the new approach to budgeting that moved away from specifically funding specialized staff people to work in discipleship ministries.

The motion was ruled out of order, because proposed changes in the budget needed to be reviewed by CFA prior to the session. However, in a measure accepted by all the parties, Bishop John Schol agreed to convene, by the end of August, a task force to address the resourcing of young adult ministry.

As part of the financial report, Harrell also reported that, for the tenth straight year, the Baltimore-Washington Conference paid 100 percent, or $3,644,626, of its apportionment to the General church for connectional ministries throughout the world.

Harrell also announced the creation of a task force to study how apportionment rates are set.

Different conferences set their apportionments differently, he said. Thirty one conferences, including the Baltimore-Washington Conference, base their formulas on church expenditures. Others combine expenditures with membership or attendance figures, while still others tithe.

The task force is seeking input from anyone interested in this issue.

It will examine three crucial questions, said Harrell, who will chair the effort.
? Is the current formula equitable?
? What are the current stress points?
? How does one measure the vitality of a local church and its ability to support connectional ministry?

He encouraged members to contact him at