[NORTHWEST TEXAS CONFERENCE SHARED MINISTRY PLAN] 2017

HIGHLIGHTS The Northwest Texas Conference Council on Finance and Administration is excited to propose a plan for funding ministry in and beyond the Conference for 2017.

(000) 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Ministry Support & $1,762 $1,813 $1,692 $1,708 $1,791 $1,897 Leadership

Clergy Care 1,820 1,550 1,440 1,320 1,085 900

Conference 1,896 1,720 1,510 1,378 1,416 1,428 Ministries Beyond Conference 1,451 1,264 1,320 1,410 1,403 1,408 Ministries

Total $6,929 $6,347 $5,962 $5,816 $5,695 $5,633

Excludes District Services and Ministries.

The proposed Budget of $5.6 million is $60 thousand lower than last year’s budget and $1.3 MILLION LOWER than just five years ago.

As more fully explained in the sections that follow, this budget challenges us to carefully and intelligently use the resources with which God has entrusted us to undertake the ministries to which God has called us. Each committee, board, council and ministry team has sought to discern how each expenditure will steward and extend the United Methodist witness in Northwest Texas and beyond.

THIS PLAN IS ABOUT MINISTRY This plan is not about money. It is a mission about and a vision for changing lives and changing the world. Often it is helpful to consider what we have done as we consider what we are planning to do.

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We believe God has called us to do this and more in 2017! But, to do that we all need to participate fully and faithfully.

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MOVING TOWARD SUSTAINABILITY At the 2011 session of Annual Conference we unveiled a financial stewardship plan to help provide a sustainable future for our Christian witness and mission in this part of God’s kingdom. However, that witness had been limited by our level of participation in our Shared Ministries

To reverse that trend, we presented a plan with THREE basic steps:

1. Churches already paying 100% remain faithful and fruitful 2. Less-than-100% churches increase giving by 10 percentage points per year until they reach 100% 3. As the amount of unpaid Shared Ministries declines, the Shared Ministries Budget can decrease or at least remain flat

Here is a graphic depiction of the results of embracing the first two points of the plan:

The third part of the plan – lowering the Shared Ministries Budget – is a function of two factors:

 Increased pay-in (Steps 1 & 2) and  Cost control.

In 2011 we entered into a covenant. Your Conference leadership said, “If the churches in the Conference will do their utmost to work points 1. and 2. of the plan, i.e. 100% churches remain faithful and fruitful and less-than-100% churches increase their Shared Ministries giving, then we – the Conference leadership – will do our utmost to contain and restrain the budget.”

So how have we done? Take a look:

OUR PLAN FOR 2017

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Ministry Support and Leadership – 2017 Budget = $1.9 million Funding for four District Superintendents - salary, travel, pension and benefits – who serve the Northwest Texas Conference as points of connection among the local churches, the district, and the annual conference is $665 thousand.

The remainder of the budget ($1.2 million) provides for connectional resources and leadership development through the Conference Service Center.

Clergy Care and Benefits – 2017 Budget = $0.9 million We provide these benefits out of love and respect, caring for those who cared for us. Due to prudent investments and responsible stewardship, funding necessary to assure these benefits has declined by $900 thousand since 2011.

Northwest Texas Conference Ministries – 2017 Budget = $1.4 million These ministries occur primarily within the boundaries of this Conference but are as varied as they are numerous.

Each year we make an investment in Clergy Excellence ($216 thousand) and Congregational Excellence ($214 thousand).

We continue the heritage of John Wesley who believed in deploying called, qualified people into the mission field. Therefore, we support our students in seminary as well as in the Course of Study.

We added the New Clergy Initiative in 2016. Over the next 10 years, half of our clergy currently serving in the Northwest Texas Conference will be eligible to retire. It is, therefore, imperative that we seek and retain qualified younger clergy to replace those who will be finishing their active ministerial careers in the next decade. The goal of the New Clergy Incentive is to provide financial support (e.g. seminary debt

5 2017 [NORTHWEST TEXAS CONFERENCE SHARED MINISTRY PLAN] reduction) for up to three clergy each year – a total of 30 over the next ten years - to serve in this Conference.

Clergy Excellence is only part of the picture. We also believe in and support Congregational Excellence. We believe that the stewardship and extension of the United Methodist witness in Northwest Texas will only be achieved through vital, healthy congregations. This means we are helping churches understand and develop ways to engage their mission field.

Every week in churches across the Conference doors are opened and hands outstretched to welcome new people into relationship with Jesus Christ. Our shared efforts to reach new people include not only support for new churches but also for existing churches to start new ministries on current or second campuses.

We believe our Youth and Young Adult Ministries ($581 thousand) are also an important part of who we are what God is calling us to do. A big part of this is our youth and adolescent Christian camping program. Eighty percent of people who accept Christ as their Lord and Savior do so by age 19. Thousands of children each summer have their lives affected in small as well as profound ways.

At the college level the campus ministries at Texas Tech University, West Texas A&M, South Plains College, Howard College, Midland College and McMurry University are taking the Gospel and Christian community to students at this critical point in their lives. The fruit of our investment of resources in these ministries include a new generation of Christian leaders serving local churches as youth directors, leading Bible studies and small groups.

The Conference also supports and resources other Conference Ministries ($417 thousand). Ministry teams look for new and engaging ways to Invite new people into a relationship with Jesus Christ. Ministry teams provide support for clergy, to nurture them in their calling. We also Equip clergy and laity to grow in their faith personally but to also take their faith into a world in desperate need of the life- saving, life-changing Gospel. Accordingly, the Northwest Texas Conference has developed new Hispanic/Latino congregations and helped existing ethnic congregations train and develop leaders.

Beyond Conference Ministries – 2017 Budget = $1.4 million

A large part of our Beyond Conference Ministries goes to supporting Christian education here and around the world.

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 The Ministerial Education Fund ($204 thousand) provides educational support for ordained elders, ordained deacons, and diaconal ministers of the church through funding for theological schools, recruitment, professional development and continuing education.  The Texas United Methodist College Association ($125 thousand) provides scholarships to almost 100 students to attend one of the seven Texas United Methodist colleges and universities. A large number of TUMCA scholarship recipients tell us that it is the TUMCA scholarship that is the “tipping point” which makes it possible for them to attend one of our schools in Texas.  Through the denomination we and the other 8 million United Methodists in the United States support historically black colleges ($87 thousand).  On the continent of Africa, Africa University in Zimbabwe ($19 thousand) is helping students become leaders in African government, agriculture, education, business, medicine and the church.  The Lydia Patterson Institute ($26 thousand) is an accredited high school with a reputation for providing an excellent education for the whole person—intellectual, physical, moral, and spiritual. LPI is located in El Paso and is ministry of the South Central Jurisdiction with a mission directed toward the Hispanic people in a cross-cultural, bilingual learning situation. Another part of our Methodist heritage that we are carrying forward into the twenty-first century is the work of the World Service Fund. Through our support we join with other United Methodist churches in undergirding a network of over 300 missionaries and others who serve in the name of Christ and The United Methodist Church in over 60 countries around the world. Our Shared Ministries contributed here help strengthen evangelism efforts, stimulate church growth, expand Bible studies, nurture spiritual development plus support and enrich local congregational life with worship, retreat and camping resources, leader training and stewardship development work. The general church also provides resources for our work with children, youth, singles, students, persons who are mentally and physically challenged, adults and older persons.

Furthermore, we continue a proud history of interdenominational and ecumenical work. Your gifts help assure United Methodists speak and work to help build a more ethical, just and humane world. Through these Shared Ministries we can express our commitment to God's reign through ministries of peace and justice, and efforts to build a church and a society truly inclusive of all persons regardless of race, ethnicity, gender or handicapping condition.

Other ministries beyond our conference that are resourced through your gifts include funding to continue our for proud tradition of cooperation and dialogue with other faith traditions, support for our episcopal leaders and other administrative costs at the general church and jurisdictional level.

These are your Shared Ministries Through our Shared Ministries we are feeding hungry mouths and filling hungry minds. We are rebuilding broken walls and reviving broken souls. We are raising up tomorrow’s church leaders and tearing down cultural barriers.

7 2017 [NORTHWEST TEXAS CONFERENCE SHARED MINISTRY PLAN] These are ministries that no one congregation could accomplish alone. That’s the strength of our Conference and the mission of our calling.

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