Río Texas Conference

% of apportionment ask paid (GCFA TOTAPP vs APPPAID, conference-wide)

CF&A formula (¶613–614). Collections fell from 92.8% in 2016 as churches disaffiliated. The 2024 shortfall is $2.0M, and it is top-heavy: ten churches account for 44% of it, though 99 of 243 reporting churches underpaid.

⚠ GCFA self-reported figures; the conference's audited-finance number rounds to ~69%. The 2016 baseline (92.8%) matches the audited figure exactly.

2024 · Atlas — Río Texas Vital Signs (GCFA local-church statistics)

closed-church property on the balance sheet (32.9% of assets); proceeds policy directs sales to mission

Policy (¶2549.3) sends net sale proceeds — after up to 20% to a capped ($400K) Property Administration Fund — to the District Strategy Team where the church sat, plus the Office of Congregational Vitality & Development; urban properties follow an Urban Ministry Strategic Plan, and former Rio Grande Conference properties are restricted to Latino/Hispanic ministry. Reinvestment is decentralized to districts, not one conference fund.

⚠ Policy says 'promptly market,' yet $13.2M still sits as unsold held property — the open question is execution, not policy.

policy 2016, rev. 2020 · Río Texas Policy Manual (2022), Proceeds from Sale of Discontinued & Abandoned Properties

conference's own governing structure (vision-aligned / simplified)

Coordinates mission through a Uniting Table (fulfilling the BoD conference-council-on-ministries role) and four Vision Teams aligned to the conference's Vision pillars — Uniting Peoples, Vitalizing Congregations, Developing Leaders, Transforming Communities. CF&A operates as the 'Finance Table.' A simplified, vision-aligned conference structure rather than a sprawl of boards.

Standing Rules 2025 · Río Texas Standing Rules & Structure 2025

total net assets ($29.5M) vs. the $2.0M annual apportionment shortfall; explicit reserve floor of 20% of conference funds

Holds $29.5M net assets and — unusually — sets an explicit floor: the Unrestricted Fund Balance must stay at ≥20% of total Conference Funds. Measured against need, the cushion is deep: reserves equal 14.6 years of the conference's current $2.0M apportionment shortfall, so the collection decline is not an existential solvency threat — it is a choice about how long to spend down. The Finance Table (CF&A) may draw the Contingency Fund/Reserves for emergencies.

2024 / policy ongoing · Río Texas 2024 audited statement + Atlas Vital Signs (reserves-vs-need)

mission & benevolence giving as a share of (mission + operating + clergy) spending, conference-wide

About one dollar in nine leaves the building. The share held near 10–11% across the decade, spiking to ~21% in 2018 (Hurricane Harvey relief flowing through benevolences).

⚠ Computed from GCFA Table 2/3 benevolence and operating codes; excludes capital and debt service.

2024 · Atlas — Río Texas Vital Signs (GCFA local-church statistics)

churches disaffiliated (mostly 2023) and the recurring apportionment base + membership lost, from each church's last operating year

84 churches disaffiliated — the great majority in the 2023 wave — taking 24,512 professing members and about $1.6M/yr of recurring apportionment base with them. That lost base, more than any change in payment behavior, is why the ask fell from $10.7M (2014) to $6.4M (2024). One-time exit payments await the audit.

2023 · Atlas Vital Signs (GCFA church status + giving)