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May 6, 2024
Dear People of God in Southern Ohio,
In the last several weeks, your Diocesan Council, which I serve as president, has reviewed our 2023 year-end diocesan financial statements as approved by the diocesan Finance Committee. Budgeting during transitions is always uncertain, and as you know, 2023 was just such a time in our diocese. The financial statements make it clear that by the end of last year, we had collected far more income from congregations than we needed to cover our expenses in the convention budget, which is funded primarily by mission share payments.
In our diocese, Diocesan Council holds responsibility for the budget, and so I asked the Finance Committee to make a recommendation to Diocesan Council about how it should allocate this surplus of mission share payments. Late last week, on the recommendation of the Finance Committee, Diocesan Council voted to return the surplus to our congregations so that it can strengthen your ministry.
The 2023 mission share surplus—roughly $450,000—will be credited to congregations in the same proportion as the 2023 mission share assessments were calculated. These funds will be returned in the form of a credit to each congregation’s 2023 or 2024 mission share account. Congregations will receive information about the amount of their mission share credit by May 17.
The year-end financials also show a $293,000 surplus in the 2023 William Cooper Procter Fund budget. In keeping with its terms, this surplus will be reinvested in the fund.
The role of the diocese is to support ministry in local congregations, and I hope that this mission share credit will allow your congregations to invest in ministries that care for God’s people and strengthen our witness to the risen Christ across Southern Ohio. And yet, I know that sustaining vital ministry requires the ability to plan for the future. To that end:
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Diocesan Council and I will monitor the 2024 budget as the year progresses in an effort to reconcile more carefully the mission share income that congregations pay to the diocese with the diocese’s actual expenses.
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I have asked the diocesan Budget Committee to examine our budget process and develop a new, post-transition method of budgeting for 2025. At my invitation, Brad Sturm will chair this year’s budget committee, and I am grateful to him for undertaking this critical work. Our goal is to plan for the future with more clarity about how we can use the resources God has entrusted to us for the benefit of both congregational and diocesan ministry. This new budgeting process will include the opportunity for new diocesan ministries to request budget allocations. You can expect more news about the 2025 budget process in the next several months.
I am grateful to the members of Diocesan Council for their prayerful work in these recent weeks and for their commitment to supporting our congregations. If you have questions about the work of Diocesan Council or the upcoming mission share credits, please email Christine Perme, chief financial officer, or Susan Byrnside, senior accountant.
Thank you for your prayers and faithful stewardship of our congregations.
Faithfully,
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