Methodist used to be known for their small groups (i.e., Class Meetings). In fact, you weren’t Methodist if you weren’t part of a small group. I find it interesting that the origin of these small groups is tied to the origin of apportionments. Apportionments are what the church contributes towards the work of the denomination. Wilson Thomas Hogue gives a concise version of this in his writing “The Meeting as a Means of Grace.” As the story goes, people became worried about how much debt John Wesley (founder of Methodism) had accumulated from purchasing chapels. You see Wesley had been banned from preaching in churches so he had purchased a number of properties for Methodists to gather and Methodist preachers to preach. One of the early Methodists, Captain Foy, proposed the idea of taking up a collection of a penny a week from each member of their small group. The leader would connect with each person weekly to collect the penny. They ended up also checking to see how the person’s walk with the LORD was going as well. These weekly check-ins were so successful that both the small groups and apportionments continued long after the debt was paid off.
In the video, I go over how apportionments are calculated and how churches can remit their apportionments. This is mostly relevant to Dakotas United Methodist churches, but it may be of interest to other United Methodists outside of the Dakotas.
Useful Links
- Apportionments & Billing page: https://www.dakotasumc.org/finance-and-benefits/apportionments-billing
- Remittance Form (PDF): https://www.dakotasumc.org/media/library/fluid-mod-page/137/documents/Remit_Form.pdf
- Remittance Form (Excel): https://www.dakotasumc.org/media/library/fluid-mod-page/137/documents/Remit_Form.xlsx
- Dakotas payment page: https://www.dakotasumc.org/finance-and-benefits/apportionments-billing/make-a-payment
- Detailed payment page: https://www.eservicepayments.com/cgi-bin/Vanco_ver3.vps?appver3=tYgT1GfNxRUldiimjHMvOU_fZTjyz8kPLgVId_ZfzGBn0I4DEN5hE2wtJ0R-be392evTpo0mld6BrVzd2nG0p-xU57M5V8JAffcpIZBkUUA=&ver=3
- Video by Rebecca Trefz on benefit of Apportionments: https://youtu.be/vUcmoY0U8EA
- 2022 Budget Report for Dakotas UMC: https://vimeopro.com/dakotasumc/2021-pre-conference-gathering-videos/video/549110433
JCT Accounting Co 
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