Miracles Everywhere

This fall we join with the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference in finding miracles everywhere! We find them in young people going to a life-changing weekend event and accepting Christ, in college students joining campus ministries, in schools built in Tanzania and in rebuilding communities destroyed by hurricanes. These are just some of the amazing projects that will be supported through the Miracles Everywhere campaign.

In connection with our yearly stewardship campaign, we invite you to give above and beyond to help our united churches in New Jersey accomplish something amazing. We plan to:

• add 9,000 students to camping, campus and IGNITE ministries

• speed recovery in hurricane hit areas by send missions teams to Puerto Rico and working with UMCOR

• build a school for pastors, a school for children and a health clinic in Tanzania

• create affordable housing, job training and social services for New Jersey residents

See the Miracles Everywhere brochure for details on the 5.2 million dollar campaign and fill in this year’s commitment card mailed to members or found in the back of the church during worship. God bless and thank you for going the second mile in this year’s stewardship campaign!

Be a 'Cheerful Giver'

If you've been in churches for a while you've probably heard someone talk about being a "cheerful giver."  Its a reference to 2 Corinthians 9:7 and usually that means they want you to give lots of money to the church and not grumble about it. At Hillsdale United Methodist Church we want people to give cheerfully, but we also know that this one verse can be twisted in ways that are not helpful.  Read it again from another version of the Bible called 'the Message:'

"I want each of you to take plenty of time to think it over, and make up your own mind what you will give. That will protect you against sob stories and arm-twisting. God loves it when the giver delights in the giving. "

Don't be manipulated into giving to the church because someone begged you to, or because you felt like you "had to."  Give because God has done a work in your heart and you want to respond in gratitude! When the Apostle Paul wrote this verse he was reminding the Corinthian people that they had committed to support his work voluntarily - no one made them do it - but that they should follow through on their commitment. 

In our church that means we expect our members to support the work of the church with financial gifts that keep us going. We don't necessarily ask people to give ten percent of their income (that's what many people think a biblical "tithe" is, but actually it was more like 23 percent of your income), but we do ask people to be generous and give all they can to support the important work of the church to change hearts and lives for the good of the world and to build God's kingdom here on earth. For those that are near the poverty level we don't expect them to have to choose between supporting the church and putting food on the table.  For those that make more we do expect them to choose between supporting the church and getting more stuff, or supporting other organizations. Only the church is making disciples of Christ, building God's kingdom. This is holy work.

At Hillsdale United Methodist Church we ask each member to assess their finances once a year and commit to give generously as God is generous to us. We ask that you give to the church first instead of just giving whatever happens to be left over.  We also ask people to share their stories of how God has blessed and transformed their lives.

But its not just about what you do. The church needs to be responsible, too! That's why we are moving towards a zero-sum budget. That means no money is allocated automatically for groups in the church - they only receive what they can justify for expenses. That saves the church money and means your valuable resources can be redirected toward mission and outreach. We also follow basic good practices of separating those who receive money and those who sign checks. Lois receives money and has kept your information confidential for twenty years! Cindy writes checks and balances the books. She was trained on the job several years ago and keeps our records in great shape. Tom oversees the committee and brings his experience as a successful small business entrepreneur running a Nursery School to our church. He gives monthly stewardship messages in church and runs our yearly campaign. He also makes sure your money is safe by having two people count it each week. We are audited each year by someone independent and outside of our finance committee - obviously they do not have check-signing authority. We do everything we can to make sure your money is safe and that it is directed towards the missional purpose of the church, to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Call the church office if you have any questions or would like to look at our financial records. We keep no secrets here!

We invite you to give generously to support the work of the church

How Giving Helps the Church

You might be wondering, “what good will my money do if I give it to the church?” It’s a good question. You’ve worked hard for your money; you shouldn’t just give it away frivolously.  I’m guessing God would like us to be good stewards over the money we earn (Matthew 25:20-21), so knowing what your gift of money goes toward is important.  At Hillsdale United Methodist Church we set a zero-sum budget each year based on the pledges we receive from those who attend our church. Zero-sum means no one "automatically" gets money, so we don't waste allocating money to groups that don't need it. This frees up more money for ministry! More than 60% of our income comes from those who pledge to our church. The rest comes from those who give, but don’t pledge, special offerings and contributions from groups that use our building.  As you can see, pledging is the most important part of our budget, and the one that has the largest influence on how well we can accomplish our church’s goals.

Some have said when you look at the budget of a church you can see what it prioritizes.  We have a simple pie chart that gives you a sense of what our priorities are.  About 60% of the budget goes toward salaries, and another 15% toward ministries, but we recognize that much of what we pay in salaries is for ministry. Our youth minister is paid to do ministry with young people! Our pastor leads us in worship and visits the home-bound and sick. These are ministries made possible by the salaries we pay.  We pay about 5% toward administration (such as inspections and insurance) and then we spend another 20% on building and maintenance. 

This last expense is often a sore point for people. They don’t want to have to pay for building and maintenance. The good news is that here at Hillsdale United Methodist Church you don’t have to!  Many years ago people in this church had a vision for a children’s ministry, a nursery school that would serve the community with an excellent educational program for preschoolers. This ministry has grown to be incredibly successful and their income offsets the building and maintenance expenses of the church.  Essentially every dollar you give goes straight toward ministries and the salaries that make ministry possible. We are proud of this here in our church, and happy that every gift you give makes it more likely that we can increase the ministries we do in our community.  From Bible study to the World Service Fund, from worship to confirmation class, we want to increase our capacity to bless others with the Good News that God loves them and we do too!  Your gift to the church allows us to continue these ministries and potentially start new ones.  We are always looking for the next right thing for our church and often that means working to meet real needs of people in our church and in our community. We hope you’ll help us do that by pledging or giving a gift today. God bless!

Rules Regarding Finances

There are many questions people have about how finances work in the church. Below is a general overview of the rules guiding all United Methodist Churches regarding finances.

¶ 258.4. There shall be a committee on finance, elected annually by the charge conference upon recommendation by the committee on nominations and leadership development or from the floor, composed of the chairperson; the pastor(s); a lay member of the annual conference; the chairperson of the church council; the chairperson or representative of the committee on pastor-parish relations; a representative of the trustees to be selected by the trustees; the chairperson of the ministry group on stewardship; the lay leader; the financial secretary; the treasurer; the church business administrator; and other members to be added as the charge conference may determine. It is recommended that the chairperson of the committee on finance shall be a member of the church council. The financial secretary, treasurer, and church business administrator, if paid employees, shall be members without vote.

The positions of treasurer and financial secretary should not be combined and held by one person, and the persons holding these two positions should not be immediate family members.

No immediate family members of any appointed clergy may serve as treasurer, finance chair, financial secretary, counter, or serve in any paid or unpaid position under the responsibilities of the committee on finance, as described herein.  These restrictions would apply only to the church or charge where the clergy serves.

The committee on finance shall give stewardship of financial resources as their priority throughout the year. It may delegate the responsibility to either a sub-group or task force that would plan, strategize, and implement ways to generate more resources for mission and ministries of the local churches and beyond. It is strongly recommended that the committee on finance, in collaboration with the church council, find creative ways to turn their congregations into tithing congregations with an attitude of generosity. All financial askings to be included in the annual budget of the local church shall be submitted to the committee on finance. The committee on finance shall compile annually a complete budget for the local church and submit it to the church council for review and adoption. The committee on finance shall be charged with responsibility for developing and implementing plans that will raise sufficient income to meet the budget adopted by the church council. It shall administer the funds received according to instructions from the church council.

The committee shall carry out the church council's directions in guiding the treasurer(s) and financial secretary.

a) The committee shall designate at least two persons not of the immediate family residing in the same household to count the offering. They shall work under the supervision of the financial secretary. A record of all funds received shall be given to the financial secretary and treasurer. Funds received shall be deposited promptly in accordance with the procedures established by the committee on finance. The financial secretary shall keep records of the contributions and payments.

b) The church treasurer(s) shall disburse all money contributed to causes represented in the local church budget, and such other funds and contributions as the church council may determine. The treasurer(s) shall remit each month to the conference treasurer all World Service and conference benevolence funds then on hand. Contributions to benevolence shall not be used for any cause other than that to which they have been given. The church treasurer shall make regular and detailed reports on funds received and expended to the committee on finance and the church council.10 The treasurer(s) shall be adequately bonded.

c) The committee on finance shall establish written financial policies to document the internal controls of the local church. The written financial policies should be reviewed for adequacy and effectiveness annually by the committee on finance and submitted as a report to the charge conference annually.

d) The committee shall make provision for an annual audit of the financial statements of the local church and all its organizations and accounts. The committee shall make a full and complete report to the annual charge conference. A local church audit is defined as an independent evaluation of the financial reports and records and the internal controls of the local church by a qualified person or persons.

The audit shall be conducted for the purpose of reasonably verifying the reliability of financial reporting, determining whether assets are being safeguarded, and determining compliance with local law, local church policies and procedures, and the Book of Discipline.

The audit may include: 1) a review of the cash and investment reconciliations; 2) interviews with the treasurer, financial secretary, pastor(s), finance committee chair, business manager, those who count offerings, church secretary, etc., with inquiries regarding compliance with existing written financial policies and procedures; 3) a review of journal entries and authorized check signers for each checking and investment account; and 4) other procedures requested by the committee on finance.

The audit shall be performed by an audit committee composed of persons unrelated to the persons listed in (2) above or by an independent certified public accountant (CPA), accounting firm, or equivalent.

e) The committee shall recommend to the church council proper depositories for the church's funds. Funds received shall be deposited promptly in the name of the local church.

f) Contributions designated for specific causes and objects shall be promptly forwarded according to the intent of the donor and shall not be used for any other purpose.11

g) After the budget of the local church has been approved, additional appropriations or changes in the budget must be approved by the church council.

h) The committee shall prepare annually a report to the church council of all designated funds that are separate from the current expense budget.


10. See Judicial Council Decisions 63, 320, 539.
11. See Judicial Council Decisions 976.