finance

The Rev. Johnsie Whitfield Cogman helps collect the offering during opening worship service of the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Fla. Overall giving to denomination-wide ministries was down in 2024, compared to 2023. But the denomination’s financial leaders are hopeful that the significantly smaller budget approved at last year’s General Conference in Charlotte, N.C., will be much more in line with the denomination’s giving capacity. File photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News.

Giving dips in 2024 ahead of smaller budget

Collections for United Methodist general-church ministries dropped in 2024, but financial leaders expect the denomination’s much smaller budget will better align with giving going forward.

Church History

Ashley Boggan, top executive of the United Methodist Commission on Archives and History, gifts Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church, with a John Wesley bobblehead on Sept. 6, 2023, while in Italy for the European Methodist Historical Conference. Seated from left are the Rev. Matthew Laferty, director of the Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome; Boggan, Ulrike Schuler with the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry, and Lara Herrmann, a student and Schuler’s granddaughter. File photo courtesy of Vatican Media.

Archives and History sets big plans

Ambitious plans are brewing at the United Methodist Commission on Archives and History, in a time when budgets in The United Methodist Church are being cut. Top executive Ashley Boggan talks about those plans and raising the money to pay for them.

General Agencies

Ashley Boggan, top executive of the United Methodist Commission on Archives and History, speaks in a video being produced by United Methodist Communications. Archives and History’s partnership with United Methodist Communications enables the history agency to share its resources using up-to-date production technology. Photo by Stacey Hagewood, United Methodist Communications.

Communications agency restructures for church’s new day

With its budget cut by more than half, United Methodist Communications has restructured with plans to serve the denomination’s needs into the future.

General Agencies

A procession of United Methodist bishops leads opening worship at the 2024 United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, N.C. At the bishops’ request, the board of the General Council on Finance and Administration approved a 2025 spending plan that includes no raises for the episcopal leaders. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

Bishops forgo pay raises to shore up funds

As The United Methodist Church deals with deep budget cuts, the denomination’s financial leaders supported the bishops’ request for no salary increase.

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