Niagara Frontier District Upper New York Annual Conference of the UMC voice: Cayuga Road, Suite 70 fax:

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1 Niagara Frontier District Upper New York Annual Conference of the UMC voice: Cayuga Road, Suite 70 fax: Cheektowaga, NY The Rev. K. Wayne Butler, Superintendent Information Leading Up to Church Conferences 2015 Please read over this information and note the preparations that need to be in place for your Church Conference. If you have any questions, please contact us and we will try to answer any questions that might come up. FOR CHURCH CONFERENCES (all reports due two weeks prior to conference): 1. According to NYS Religious Corporation Law, all conferences will be called as church conferences open to all professing members of the local church. a. Expectation is that members of the Church Council/Admin Council/Admin Bd will be in attendance b. But is open to all members c. If you wish to do a conference where various committees & ministry teams present reports and summaries for the year, this could be done at a later time as a congregational meeting. 2. Notice of time and place of the charge conference shall be given at least ten days in advance by two or more of the following: a. from the pulpit b. in the weekly bulletin c. in local church publications d. by mail/ 3. In those cases where the pastor is an ordained elder, he/she will be leading the individual portion of the church conference. DS will come by to present the pastoral compensation for approval at some point during the session. If the church is served by a local pastor or lay supply, we will be recruiting elders to lead those conferences. If you are an elder coming for one of the adjoining church conferences and are willing to serve by leading another church conference, please let Julie know. 4. Please ask someone to serve as secretary prior to your meeting and forward the name to the District Office. This will save time trying to persuade someone to be secretary at the meeting. Recording secretary shall keep an accurate record of the proceedings and forward those minutes to the District Office within two weeks after the scheduled meeting. We have a form for the Recording Secretary to use that should make things easier (#10 on the list on the annual conference website). The Secretary can either fill it in by hand or download it and print/ to District Office along with copies of any attachments not submitted prior to the meeting. 5. A folder will be provided with materials for your individual church conference; (Julie will deliver the folder to each presiding elder). Please place all reports in this folder and return to Julie before leaving. Make sure to include the full name and town/city of your church on all documents. 6. Please use the sign-in sheet provided in your folder and submit to the Elder presiding that day before you leave. 1

2 7. Please bring a copy of the minutes from last year s church conference. These will need to be approved at this year s church conference. These should have already been presented and approved at a church council/admin board mtg prior to the meeting so everyone can read them ahead of time. Do you have a 2014 copy on file in the District Office? 8. The schedule is set and is out. Since each local church chose the date you now have is THE DATE. This has been sent to each local church, but is also available on the District web page. 9. We will again be holding regional church conferences on 4 separate dates (3 Saturdays and 1 Sunday) at 5 different locations. You have chosen either an early or later session. Each of the adjoining sessions will have an information sharing and worship service in between that will bring both sessions together (hence the overlapping times). 10. Agenda will be available in early October on our District web page. This will also be included in our e-connections and a link provided. If you want to print out copies for the meeting you can access it there. 11. If you are hosting, please put up signs directing people to the sanctuary and meeting rooms. Have someone greeting at the door to let those coming from other congregations know where we are meeting. Host churches should also label the rooms where individual congregations will be meeting for the individual portion of our meeting. If the room is being used for more than one session, you can list all of the church names on one sheet. 12. S/PPRC: None scheduled for the days of the regional church conferences. I will be scheduling meetings with those S/PPRCs who have indicated the need for a meeting on their Advisory Forms. Other meetings with S/PPRCs will be scheduled as needed or requested by the local church or pastor throughout the year. 13. Please be prepared for your church conference; all forms will need to be sent to the District Office two weeks prior to the date of your meeting. These are Items 1-9 on the Report Checklist (1less form than last year!!). Julie will a reminder at least one week before your reports are due. Please make sure that all of these are prepared and submitted two weeks ahead of your church conference. Last year we had a large number of churches come without the necessary forms prepared. If you have a special issue that needs to be addressed, us (both to the District Office and DS) to let us know of the issue: candidates to be approved, bequests, special actions. Some items may have to be addressed at an additional Charge Conference at a later date. FORMS: 1. Pastoral Compensation Package: i. Please don t call the District Office to ask for someone to complete this for you. We aren t able to do that for each individual church. ii. Please use the online conference form; using the Excel spreadsheet will put most of the figures in for you and will mean that Julie and the AC office won t need to make corrections. iii. When figuring the years of service, this means years of FT equivalent service. If you serve 4 years at ¼ time and 2 years at ½ time this equals 2 years of FT service. Also note that there are slightly different amounts per year depending on your conference membership status and this year the top limit is 19 years. 2

3 iv. Your pastoral compensation package should be approved by your S/PPRC and presented to your church council prior to your church conference. Print out 3 copies and have them signed by pastor and S/PPRC chair prior to meeting. One copy should be returned to the folder for the DS, while the other two will go to the S/PPRC Chair and pastor. The S/PPRC Chair should also make a copy for the church treasurer after the package is approved at the church conference. v. If you are an elder presiding at your congregation s church conference, the DS will come in to lead this portion of your meeting. a. Housing Exclusion Resolution: i. For all churches who provide parsonage for the pastor ii. An amount set by the church in consultation with the pastor that allows for that amount to be considered non-taxable, except for Social Security purposes. iii. Should be an amount the pastor can verify as being spent for furnishing a home provided by the church iv. Is a portion of the pastor s salary and does not increase salary v. Parsonage family will need to keep proper documentation and receipts that substantiate the amount of exclusion in case they are ever questioned by IRS vi. Have 4 copies of the form filled out & signed by S/PPRC chair before sending to the District Office. One copy will go in your folder for the DS and other copies to pastor, S/PPRC and secretary for church copy of minutes. vii. Please make sure the secretary records the amount in the minutes. b. Account Reimbursable Resolution: i. Required by the IRS to verify that these are reimbursements rather than lump sum payments to the pastor. Available on the annual conference website. ii. There is a minimum set according to percentage of appointment and additional amount if serving more than one local church. iii. Please make sure the secretary records the amount and a copy of the resolution with the minutes. 2. Local Church Lay Leadership a. Nominations & Lay Leadership Development Report i. Use your own congregation s format and include a copy with minutes ii. Good practice for people to serve on ministry teams for 3-year terms iii. Some congregations allow people to serve two terms in same office before rotating off 1. Can t prevent a Trustee from running for re-election when term expires, but doesn t mean they have to be re-elected 2. S/PPRC members can serve two consecutive terms, but then must go off for at least a year before re-election iv. Must vote on new members of Committee on Nominations & Lay Leadership separately from the rest and allow for nominations from the floor. Doesn t mean that you can t have people in place for these nominations, but also have to ask for any further nominations from the floor. v. If the full report is complete you can vote on the entire slate of officers that day. If the full report is to be voted on, this should be included in the reports sent into the District Office 2 weeks prior to your church conference. vi. Otherwise you should elect any remaining leadership positions at a subsequent meeting prior to January 1,

4 b. Trustees also have to be voted on separately by written ballot. Ballot forms can be found on the District website. 1. Ballots should be filled in with nominations for new trustees filled in under appropriate year. 2. Don t need to fill in Trustees who have been elected in previous years, just new nominees. 3. Make copies of ballots with names of nominees filled in and bring with you to church conference. 4. Record vote on copy of minutes and attach the ballots to YOUR copy of the minutes. Do not send ballots to the District Office. c. UNYAC Leadership Interface i. Should be completed on a computer; printed out and sent to the District Office. ii. Lists key leadership positions with contact info for Conference & District Offices iii. Is in addition to your complete list of leaders in 2a. 3. Report of the Pastor a. To be completed on computer and printed out. This document can t be saved, so print out prior to closing out of the document or you will lose all information entered. b. Only include membership changes since your last church conference. Is not for the calendar year, only for period between two church conferences. c. Item #5 (state of church and pastoral ministry) only needs to be a brief statement attached to the report. NOT INCLUDED IN FORMS BUT MAY BE INCLUDED IN BUSINESS OF CHURCH CONFERENCE. i. Removal of Members from the Rolls (this can be done in conjunction with Pastor s Report): This is a two year process and names have to be included in the minutes for the previous year before they can be removed. Para b Book of Discipline) 1. You should prepare two lists (each on a separate page): 1. those read for the first time; 2. Those read in the previous year and being presented for removal 2. Post/circulate the lists prior to your church conference; read the list at a meeting of your church council so the congregation can contribute any information they may have about the members on the list. 3. Send both lists to the District Office 2 weeks prior to the church conference. Make copies of the 2 nd year list to distribute to the members of the church conference. 4. The presiding elder will ask if these names have been made known to the congregation and/or the church council and if an effort has been made to contact these persons regarding their membership. 5. The presiding elder will note for the minutes that names have been presented for a 1 st /2 nd time as applicable and these lists will be included with the minutes. Copies of the 2 nd year list will be distributed to the members for a final check. 6. The presiding elder will then ask the members of the church conference if they are ready to vote on the list of those being presented for the third time. A vote will be taken and noted on the copy of the 2 nd year list and attached to the minutes. 4. Volunteers in Mission/Outreach Report a. Even if you don t have a VIM team, each local church needs to return this form b. If no VIMs, just include the name/contact information for a contact person (often the Missions Chair) 4

5 Local Church Audit a. Please be sure that your 2014 audit was presented to the church/admin council for approval prior to your church conference b. If you haven t completed your 2014 audit or haven t sent it to the District Office (and there are 35 churches we don t have audits for!) make sure you do this prior to your church conference and send a copy to the District Office. c. Send a copy of the meeting minutes where this was approved to the District Office. This will be attached to the minutes of this year s church conference. Those who have sent in their audit don t need to provide another copy of the audit. d. This information can be included on the report of the finance committee, but should include attachments that verify the procedures that were undertaken for an audit. THE ABOVE ARE THE REPORTS REQUIRED OF ALL CHURCHES FOR THE CHURCH CONFERENCE. HOWEVER, SOME LOCAL CHURCHES MAY HAVE ADDITIONAL REPORTS AS APPLICABLE AND ARE LISTED BELOW. 6. Lay Servant Annual Report a. Please use the form that is now online. Provide the link to all lay servants in your congregation. The forms from previous years will no longer be accepted. b. Should be filled out by any new lay servants and those who wish to be renewed. c. Reports should be filled out completely (except for part 5 / DS) with all required signatures. i. Make 2 copies of the signed forms and have them ready for DS signature. One to be turned in after your conference and one to be taken back to local church for copies as needed. ii. Presiding Elder should check the correct box in #5 following approval by church conference. If approved, the District Assistant will affix the DS signature to both copies. d. District Office will send a copy to the District Lay Speaker s Team, so there is no need to send a copy to them. e. These reports must be in to the District Office 2 weeks prior to church conference in order to be recommended by the church conference for the year. Without a completed report (lay servant and pastor signatures), no lay servant can be approved for continuation. 7. Parsonage Committee Report a. To be completed on computer and printed out. This document can t be saved, so print out prior to closing out of the document or you will lose all information entered. b. Trustees/S-PPRC/Pastor can work on this and complete it together. c. Must be completed wherever the church owns a parsonage, whether it is occupied by the pastor or rented out to other tenants. 8. Recommendations of Candidacy a. If there is a candidate coming for first time certification approval, be sure to have the proper form filled out from the mentor and pastor and sent to District Office 2 weeks before your church conference. i. Will require prior approval by S/PPRC in order to approve at church conference ii. First time approval requires a written ballot with 2/3 approval. 1. Have ballot prepared ahead of time with enough copies; 2. Recruit people ahead of time to count and verify the vote 3. Record on minutes form and attach ballots to church copy of minutes 5

6 b. If you have a continuing candidate who was approved in a previous year at a prior church conference - OR - a person who has served as a local pastor and is approved but not currently appointed, you simply have to include their names in the minutes and vote approval to continue as a candidate. Certified Lay Ministers (report form for renewal sent to individuals by District Office) Any CLM should already be recommended by the pastor and approved by the S/PPRC and should have received the training approved through the Annual Conference. CLMs are to be reviewed by the church council and apply to local church in writing for recertification prior to the Church/Charge Conference. They may do so by providing the local church with a copy of their yearly report to the District Committee on Ministry (sent to them by the District Office). Need to be recertified yearly. Please have a list of those to be recertified printed and ready for the secretary. If a person was also a lay servant/speaker, they don t have to fill out the report for the Lay Servant, just the CLM report. 9. Bequest Resolution a. Each bequest given to the church must be approved by a church or charge conference. If one comes in after your yearly charge conference, contact District Office to schedule a charge conference to approve it b. You need to provide information on how the funds will be disbursed in the resolution c. If the purpose changes, this will require another charge conference to amend it d. Don t need to accept a bequest if the strings attached are not amenable to the church s mission and ministry. That s the purpose for bringing it before a charge conference. e. Send any bequest resolution in 2 weeks prior with other forms. 10. Church Conference Minutes - AND Church Conference Sign in Sheet a. BOTH need to be returned to District Office within two weeks after church conference along with any attachments not included in folder returned at time of church conference b. Last year we had several churches fail to submit a copy of their minutes. Help Julie out and make sure these are returned so she doesn t have to call for them. DUE BY Nov. 1, Pastor s Appointment Advisory Form (requires pastor login name & password) 13. S/PPRC Appointment Advisory Form (requires church login name & password) 14. Pastor-SPPRC Covenant Form (requires church login name & password) a. Contact Julie if you need login information. b. Save, print and send a signed copy to the District Office c. Bishop & cabinet will be meeting in early December to begin appointment process and DSs have to complete forms prior to that meeting d. Last year didn t receive advisory forms from a number of S/PPRCs (some because pastor never met with committee and/or informed them of the need), but also some pastors who didn t submit an advisory form. Up to the pastor to see that both of these are submitted on time -- or does it mean church and/or pastor are not requesting an appointment??? 6

7 DUE BY Dec. 1, Church Profile 16. Pastor Profile 1. Both should be updated every year. If no changes, other than dates, shouldn t require much time to update 2. However you do need to mark that it is complete when done or will not show up as updated 3. Julie cannot check it is complete even if she sees that you just forgot to click COMPLETE at the end; must be done by the person with password and login DUE BY Feb. 15, all to be sent to the District Office, except statistical reports 17. Report of the Trustees: a. Required by NYS Religious Corporation Law; since the Trustees are the legal body of the local church, they are required to file this report to show the duly elected officers according to the Discipline. The remaining questions simply report on Trustee assets and responsibilities. b. Names current officers & assets (physical & financial). Fill in liber and page number (should be included in last year s report as Julie contacted each church that didn t include it to provide information). If no changes in church properties, simply copy same information as last year. 18. Finance Committee Report a. May be filled out before printing b. Include a copy of your church s year-end financial report c. Include a copy of your 2016 Budget Statistical Reports (EZRA) a. No need to send copies to the District Office; just complete online b. Make sure you click COMPLETE for each of the three reports or it will not be registered as completed by due date. c. Last year had most reports in on time d. Remember that the Cabinet and BoM approved policy for late return of these reports DUE BY March 15, Audit Report a. This reports the amounts beginning and ending balances for each church account (general fund, Trustees, groups, classes, memorial funds, endowments, etc.) b. Also includes exceptions and/or recommendations of the auditor(s). Must be signed by the Pastor and person who did the audit. c. This does not have to be done by a CPA, but cannot be done by anyone who handles church funds (Treasurer, Financial Secretary, counters). Some churches do it for each other. This information will be available for download from the district website, so you can refer to it in preparation for your church conferences. Please refer to this before calling the District Office, but if you do have any questions, please contact us. 7