UM & Global Collections on Assets and Finances

The latest pair of UM & Global collections both include compilations of posts written by UM & Global blogmaster David W. Scott about assets, money, finances, and church structure.

The first collection, "A Primer on UMC Assets," includes a series of twelve posts about United Methodist denominational assets, examining what these assets are, what assets are owned by different units of the church, how these assets are impacted by the trust clause, and what might happen to these assets in various scenarios of division of The United Methodist Church.

The second collection, on "Mission, Ministry, and Finances," includes eighteen posts that examine issues related to the financing of church infrastructure, apportionments, financial subsidies of the central conferences by the United States and Europe, episcopal and pastoral salaries in Africa, and internal financial capacities of the central conferences. The posts included in this collection are intended to help readers reflect on how financial arrangements impact the church's missional partnerships and what sorts of ministries the church is and is not able to do.

Both collections include discussion questions for reflection on the included pieces. In both cases, these discussion questions are intended to help students, annual conference leaders, General Conference delegates, local church leaders, and others to think wisely about how our money does and should shape our mission.