Iowa United Methodists just say "NO"
to misuse of Apportionments
updated 05/22/98
DEAR FELLOW UNITED METHODISTS,
ARE THERE THINGS HAPPENING IN THE ANNUAL AND GENERAL
CONFERENCES THAT CAUSE YOU GREAT CONCERN?
IF YOUR ANSWER IS YES, PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ ABOUT
THE APPORTIONMENT REDUCTION INITIATIVE, AND TO JOIN US IN OUR EFFORT TO RETURN TO THE TRUE
MISSION OF OUR CHURCH, WHICH IS, "TO MAKE DISCIPLES OF JESUS CHRIST ."
The Apportionment Reduction Initiative comes from concerned members of The United
Methodist Churches of the Iowa Annual Conference. We believe it is time to speak out and
to take action to make changes that will help our Local Churches, our Annual Conference,
and our General Conference be more effective in our mission, "... to make disciples
of Jesus Christ." Our Book of Discipline not only states this as our mission, but
goes on to say, "Local churches provide the most significant arena through which
disciple-making occurs." (p.114)
We are increasingly concerned with the widening opinions on social issues and the
re-interpretation of scripture that are promoted at the Annual and General Conference
Levels, often in contradiction to The Book Of Discipline and Scripture. We realize that we
need to be accountable to God for the programs and priorities our gifts are supporting,
and it is evident that as individual members of our conference, we have little control
over how our apportionment giving is spent. Therefore, we are compelled to take action in
the form of The Apportionment Reduction Initiative.
Currently, the Annual and General Conferences request approximately 20% or more of each
Local Church's budget. [Note: Not all churches pay 20% or more in apportionments in the
Iowa Annual Conference. Some pay a few percentage points less. This Initiative does not
affect the direct billing by the churches for the pastors' pension and health care funds.]
This Initiative recommends that individuals designate only 10% of their total giving to
the church to be used to support Annual and General Conference Apportionments. The
remaining 90% of their giving will go to ministries and programs that have been
prayerfully and specifically chosen by the Local Church to best accomplish our mission. In
this way, we can each become more actively accountable for our stewardship.
As you read through The Statement of Principles and Pledge, you will realize this
initiative will affect many programs. It is our prayerful desire that this action will
give Local Churches the opportunity to REDIRECT these funds to ministries and programs
that will further God's Kingdom, as prescribed by The Book of Discipline.
We ask you to join us in praying about how best to assume our stewardship
responsibility in REDIRECTING these funds to ministries and programs which will help all
people to become Disciples of Jesus Christ.
THE APPORTIONMENT REDUCTION INITIATIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM IN IOWA
On this page you will find several of the concerns that have led us to take action
through THE APPORTIONMENT REDUCTION INITIATIVE. We do not have the time or space
to list every concern. We have tried to highlight major issues where we have felt our
United Methodist doctrines were not supported by our leadership and our apportionment
dollars were not used in fulfilling our purpose of making disciples of Jesus Christ.
- We are concerned that 15 Methodist Bishops at the 1996 General Conference declared that
they could not, in good conscience, support the provisions of the Discipline of The United
Methodist Church regarding homosexuality. We are further concerned at the action taken in
the Nebraska Conference when they ruled a minister innocent of disobeying church rules for
performing a lesbian unity ceremony.
- We are concerned when Bishop Jordan states that we need to "accept and affirm"
all religions, such as; Buddhism, Mormonism, and Islam. He states further that we need to
"accept and affirm" all "-isms", such as; New Ageism, Sexual
Orientationism, and others. This was reinforced at the Iowa Annual Conference in 1997,
when we included a Mormon representative in our ordination ceremonies. [Note: This
statement was taken from Bishop Jordan's address at Morningside College on January 29,
called "Building Community Through Building Bridges.] [This was reinforced at the
Iowa Annual Conference in 1997, when we included a representative from The
Reorganized Church of The Latter Day Saints in our ordination ceremonies.]
- We are concerned with the movement that is taking place at the General and Annual
Conference levels to promote the re-interpretation of Scripture as evidenced in the recent
UMW Lenten study book, Joshua and the promised land. The author declares, "We have
been especially careful to move away from any literal interpretation, and have tried to
show alternative ways of reading this well-known biblical story." (p. 84)
Re-interpretation of Scripture moves us from the foundation of God's Inspired Word to the
encouragement of editing or dismissing Scriptural texts to best fit our own perspective.
- We are concerned about promotion of events such as the Re-Imagining Conferences. At the
1993 conference, participants heard speakers who discredited the atonement, introduced the
worship of the goddess, "Sophia'', (representing the Wisdom of God), and then offered
a Eucharistic-type milk and honey ritual, complete with liturgy to "Sophia".
Many statements of the speakers directly contradicted Scripture and The Book of
Discipline. Yet, our 1994 Iowa Annual Conference "affirmed the diversity of worship
and variety of symbols" used at this women's workshop.
- We are concerned that Mission Outreach Ministries in Iowa, such as camperships for our
children, received only 54% of their 1997 approved budgeted apportionment money, while
conference staff was funded at 96%. We are also concerned about a movement to further
increase conference staff, by moving our lobbyist from part-time to full-time and hiring
support staff for him.
This is just a small listing of the events and activities that are taking place at our
Annual and General Conference levels that have brought great concern to us as we have
faithfully tried to support the work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We believe it is time to take responsibility for our stewardship and REDIRECT our
giving to programs that acknowledge the authority of Scripture and proclaim the Gospel of
Jesus Christ.
We invite you to join us in prayer and action as we unite and stand together through
participation in THE APPORTIONMENT REDUCTION INITIATIVE.
STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES: We believe in God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy
Spirit. We believe that through God's grace, Christ died on the cross for our personal
redemption and for the sins of the world. We believe that the Holy Bible is the inspired
Word of God and that it is an agent in changing lives today. We accept the principles of
faith as ascribed by John Wesley and we accept the authority of The Book of Discipline in
the administration and governance of The United Methodist Church.
Because the leadership in The United Methodist Church, at the Annual and General levels
is promoting and participating in actions that are leading us away from these foundational
beliefs, we find it necessary to take action in the form of: THE APPORTIONMENT
REDUCTION INITIATIVE.
PLEDGE OF APPORTIONMENT REDUCTIONS
We, the undersigned members of the Iowa Annual Conference of The United Methodist
Church, do hereby pledge that starting June 1,1998, only 10% of our giving to the local
church may go to pay our church's part of the Iowa Annual Conference Apportionments.
We further direct that this 10% is to be used for the Managerial and Administrative
activities at the Annual Conference and General Conference Level in helping the local
churches be more effective in reaching out into our world, and making disciples of Jesus
Christ.
Our gifts shall be used for:
- The Managerial and Administrative activities at the Annual and General Conference levels
that are clearly demonstrated to be necessary for the proper functioning of local churches
and outreach ministries. This refers primarily to the hierarchical structure of District
Superintendents and Bishops, and their associated staff personnel, at both the Annual and
General Conference Levels.
- Activities at the Annual and General Conference Levels that are clearly demonstrated to
be necessary for the recruiting, training, placing, developing and sustaining of adequate
clergy and associated lay personnel to serve the needs of the local churches of the
conference, and to activities that are not funded through the Local Church themselves, but
help them in their mission of reaching out to lead others to Christ. (Such as, but not
limited to, The Annual Conference Board of Camps and Retreat Ministries, The Annual
Conference Board of Discipleship, or other Boards and Agencies within the Annual
Conference whose primary focus is to help the Local Church achieve the mission of
"making disciples for Jesus Christ".)
- This money can also be used for the Annual and General Conference funding of The Board
of Pensions and Heath Care Programs and to support Missionaries through World Service
Giving. . IF YOU AGREE AND WOULD LIKE TO JOIN US, PLEASE SIGN ON THE REVERSE SIDE.
(Make as many copies as needed and please share this with other UM Churches) As a
supporter of THE APPORTIONMENT REDUCTION INITIATIVE, and in agreement with the STATEMENT
OF PRINCIPLES:
We, the undersigned, as Individual Members of the Iowa Annual Conference of The United
Methodist Church, do hereby pledge, starting June 1, 1998, that only 10% of our total
giving to the local church may go to pay for our church's part of the Iowa Annual and
General Conference Apportionments.
Furthermore, this money may be used only in the areas as stated in the PLEDGE OF
APPORTIONMENT REDUCTIONS.
YOUR NAME: NAME OF YOUR LOCAL CHURCH:
Please make copies of this page, with names, and give the original to your Local Church
Treasurers, so that they may make the proper adjustments in paying your church's
Apportionments.
Send one copy to the Conference Headquarters to show that we are UNITED in this effort
and that our voices need to be heard. United Methodist Conference Center, 500 E. Court
Ave. Suite C, Des Moines, Iowa 50309
And please send one copy to us for accurate record keeping: The Apportionment Reduction
Initiative Box 394 Marcus, Iowa 51035
In October of 1994, after a long history of paying our apportionments in full, the
Administrative Council of Grace United Methodist Church took action to withhold $2000 of
our apportionment payments. This action was taken in response to our concern with six
specific items:
- The decisions made by Conference trustees in regard to Camp Okoboji.
- The number of staff positions added at the Iowa Conference level.
- The 1994 Iowa Annual Conference's response to the Re-imagining Conference. (Legislative
item 355)
- The Conference's call to reflect and study on what it would mean to become a Reconciling
or Transforming conference. (Legislative item 357)
- The impact of increasing apportionment payments on local church programming.
- The new apportionment formula. (NOTE: This has been revised since that time.)
This information was communicated by letter to our District Superintendent, Rev.
Balm-Demmel, on October 24, 1994. The District Superintendent responded to our letter and
encouraged us to work through our lay delegate at Annual Conference.
On April 19, 1995, our Administrative Council unanimously voted to become a member of
the Confessing Movement. This action was also communicated through letter to Rev.
Balm-Demmel. We became more active in educating our lay delegate and congregation to the
activities of the Annual Conference.
On October 24, 1995, we sent a letter communicating our intent to withhold another
$2,000. We listed our concerns and asked for these questions to be addressed at our
upcoming charge conference. Our charge conference, however, was held in the form of a
worship service and there wasn't opportunity to discuss specific issues.
On April 8, 1996, a year and a half after our original inquiry, a meeting was held with
Rev. Balm-Demmel, Don Mendenhall and Inez Dawes of the Iowa Council on Ministries. This
meeting was to address the concerns that we had listed in our original letter. The
Conference personnel were unprepared to answer some of the questions and information that
was supplied was considered superficial. The meeting accomplished little in helping us
understand the Conference's responses in these areas. There was additional information
sent later to our pastor and ad council chairman, but no further dialogue.
In October of 1997, our pastor initiated District Praise and Prayer Services in our
church. At these services, lay people and pastors of our district are invited to come
together in a time of praise and prayer. In the November worship service, people made
commitments to pray and fast for God's guidance and healing in our conference and
denomination.
On December 10, 1997, at the end of our charge conference, concerns were again brought
to our District Superintendent and she was asked if these concerns could be shared with
the cabinet. To date, we have had no response.
At our March 11, 1998, Ad Council Meeting, we listened to an informational overview of
our apportionment spending by Harold Zarr, the conference representative for the Sioux
City District. While the apportionment breakdown of ministries was helpful, it was based
on proposed budget numbers, rather than actual money spent, or even the adjusted 1997
budgets. He noted our questions and is attempting to get that information sent to us.
The previous discussion is the background of why the ARI task force was formed and the
basis for the decision to inform other members of the conference of our concerns. This
task force met for the first time in January of 1998. The task force requested and
received permission from the Administrative Council to present its concerns to the
congregation of the Grace United Methodist Church after services on March 22. After a
lengthy discussion at the March 22 meeting, over 75% of the members in attendance endorsed
the Statement of Principles developed by the task force and signed The
Apportionment Reduction Initiative (ARI). Further, the task force was encouraged
to send a mailing to all churches in the Iowa Conference explaining our concerns. This
took place during the first week of April.
This Initiative does not suggest withholding money from the church. Instead, it lets
people know that they can and do have the option to specifically direct their giving to
where it can best be used to help make disciples of Jesus Christ. It encourages a
continued 10% giving to apportionments, with the balance redirected to specific programs
and ministries at the Local, Annual, and General levels. It is not our intent to divide
our conference. It is our hope that we can continue to minister together, focusing our
support on the programs which acknowledge the authority of Scripture and proclaim the
Gospel of Jesus Christ.
ARI Task Force
Box 394
Marcus, IA 51035
(712) 376-2649
After discussion with our District Superintendent on April 4, 1998, we would like to
make these amendments to the original document: [already ammended in the above
document]
Page 1 - Paragraph 3: "Currently, the Annual and General Conferences request approximately
20% or more of each Local Church's budget." Note: Not all churches pay 20% or
more in apportionments in the Iowa Annual Conference. Some pay a few percentage points
less.
Page 2 - Paragraph 3: add: "This statement was taken from
Bishop Jordan's address at Morningside College on January 29, called "Building
Community Through Building Bridges."
Page 2 - Paragraph 3: "This was reinforced at the Iowa Annual Conference in 1997,
when we included a representative from The Reorganized Church of The Latter Day
Saints in our ordination ceremonies."
The previous discussion is the background of why the ARI task force was formed and the
basis for the decision to inform other members of the conference of our concerns. This
task force met for the first time in January of 1998. The task force requested and
received permission from the Administrative Council to present its concerns to the
congregation of the Grace United Methodist Church after services on March 22. After a
lengthy discussion at the March 22 meeting, over 75% of the members in attendance endorsed
the Statement of Principles developed by the task force and signed The Apportionment
Reduction Initiative (ARI). Further, the task force was encouraged to send a mailing to
all churches in the Iowa Conference explaining our concerns. This took place during the
week of April 1.
While we appreciate and respect that there are other opinions within our denomination,
the task force and members signing the ARI felt it imperative to become more individually
accountable in our financial stewardship. It is not our intent to divide our conference.
It is our hope that we can focus on and support the programs which acknowledge the
authority of Scripture and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
ARI Task Force
Box 394 Marcus, IA 51035
(712) 376-2649
Mavis Diment, Dwight and Barb Moats, Bob and
Lorna Leavitt, Nancy Hier, Roger and Doris Henry, Jim and Belinda Leavitt, Hope Schlenger,
Jerry and Barb Martin, Bob and Sue Cave, Tom Dorr,
Renea Ogren
We apologize that our names were not listed on our original letter. We regret this
serious oversight on our part. Please feel free to distribute this listing to those
interested.
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