On November 21, 2013, a federal district court judge in Madison, Wisconsin held that a portion of Section 107 of the tax code is unconstitutional. Specifically, it was the portion of the tax code that allows cash housing allowances paid to clergy to be exempt from federal income tax.  This ruling has the potential to… Continue Reading→

A great opportunity to support the ministry or mission that God has led you to is coming up on Tuesday, December 3, 2013.  On that day, donations given through the UMCmission.org website for general advance specials will be matched dollar for dollar up to $500,000 for the day!  This is a great opportunity to generate… Continue Reading→

There is a lot of talk lately about the upcoming implementation of some of the first phases of health care reform.  No matter which side of the political spectrum you find yourself, it is important to be informed about the issues.  I ran across a video tutorial about health care reform from BCBSNC that I… Continue Reading→

Local churches and other salary-paying units in The United Methodist Church, as employers, need to understand an important employee notice requirement this year under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), the national health care reform law. Churches must provide this Notice to all current employees (clergy and lay) before Oct. 1, regardless of… Continue Reading→

My last post was about working toward a very broad goal of having a local church budget that reflects about one third for missional giving, one third for facility or operational expenses and one third for staff compensation.  Working toward that goal can be difficult if your church is having financial difficulty with meeting the… Continue Reading→

Around this time of year, many churches are beginning to prepare ministry budgets for next year.  We get calls with leaders trying to figure out how much should go into each category to help make sure a church is sound financially.  As a very broad, general rule, we have recommended that churches consider using one… Continue Reading→