Where the money goes

Every year the conference apportions a share of its budget to each church. In 2016, churches paid 92.76% of the ask. In 2024 they paid 69.41% — a shortfall of $4,322,515 in a single year. The filled bar is what was paid; the faint remainder is what was asked and not received.

Apportionment income has fallen, but the conference still reports $40,159,147 in assets at the end of 2024. The single largest line is not cash or investments — it is the held property of churches that have closed. Under the trust clause, that property does not return to the members of the closed church; the conference holds it.

Conference policy does say what to do with it: when these properties sell, net proceeds — after a capped administration fund — go to the district where the church stood and to congregational development, for mission and new church starts. The open question is execution, not intent: $13.2M still sits unsold on the books even though the policy calls to “promptly market” it.