2022 has officially come to an end. This has been a unique year as we moved through a PANDEMIC to something more normal. It is our hope that 2022 has been filled with blessings. The River Conference continues to see increase stability after the tumultuous times associated with the PANDEMIC. We are thankful for the faithfulness of the TRC churches and their members.
People often say something looks promising. I want to say 2023 looks beyond promising. A few general indicators include church plants that are making preparations to start / launch, we are working to reestablish a TRC presence in Nogales NM as a mission outpost, and several churches are working with the property team and advancement team to launch a building project.
The giving of the TRC churches through the Conference Tithe / Apportionment help support those efforts. The TRC is not the end, it the conduit that supports the ministry of ALL TRC churches.
For Year-end, I want to provide a couple reminders:
Contribution letters based on the giving of Tithes and Offerings in 2022 are due to be mailed no later than January 31, 2022. I would encourage those to be sent sooner than later. If using QuickBooks and having your givers listed as customers, those reports are simple. Print an Income by Customer Report. With a cover letter mail that report to the contributor. This is a IRS requirement.
The IRS requires all payroll tax forms to be completed and sent by January 31, 2022. Again, I would encourage the completing and submitting sooner than later.
Year End Financial Report Upload
As part of the “connected church”, please upload your year-end Financials. We request your December 31, 2022 Profit and Loss & Balance Sheet be uploaded as a PDF. We also ask that you provide your 2022 average worship attendance. Thank you in advance.
https://theriverconference.org/finance2022
For the New-Year, I want to remind you of the procedure for submitting the Conference Tithe / Apportionment Report and ACH COLLECT / Withdraw by TRC based on the report.
IRS New Mileage Reimbursement Amount:
The IRS 2023 Mileage reimbursement rate increased to $0.655 per mile.
Pastors / Church Administrators / Accounting Leaders:
If your church has not signed up for the ACH COLLECT / AUTO WITHDRAW of your Conference Tithes / Apportionment / EPP this is an important document so you can sign up. It was the intent that by January 01,2023 that all churches would have submitted their authorization form – so the January 2023 Conference Tithe / Apportionment / EPP could auto withdraw on or about the 25th of January. There still is time.
To date, 55% of TRC churches have set up ACH COLLECT / AUTO WITHDRAW. It is anticipated that there will be 100% participation by January 31, 2023
CHURCH / SOCIETY Conference Tithe / Apportionment / EPP
Per the Book of Discipline, Free Methodist Church and The River Conference set the annual Conference Tithe / Apportionment / EPP. The River Conference has been given permission to use real-time Conference Tithe / Apportionment / EPP. That means each month the church /society collects and reports all receipts based on the previous month. EXAMPLE: December report is based on November receipts. The online report is due by the 15thof each month.
The established Tithe / Apportionment / EPP for 2023 is 10% (this has not been raised in recent years). 6.8% stays with TRC and 3.2% is forwarded to FMC by the conference on the church / society’s behalf.
On or about the 25th of the month The River Conference will ACH COLLECT (Auto Withdraw) from the church’s checking account the amount listed on the online report.
The new affiliating UM Churches, that choose to immediately become a society may be placed on a “ramping up” of the Conference Tithe / Apportionment / EPP due to the amount they are required to remit to the United Methodist Church as they exit.
The online ACH COLLECT (Auto Withdraw) authorization link is:
https://theriverconference.org/resources/finances/ach01/
The Church / Society online tithe report link is below:
10%
https://theriverconference.org/resources/finances/tithe_10_ach/
7.5% once the church reaches $1,000,000 or more in receipts.
https://theriverconference.org/resources/finances/tithe_75_ach/
5% for church plants
https://theriverconference.org/resources/finances/tithe_5_ach/
1% beginning of the ramp up for those UMC church becoming FMC
https://theriverconference.org/resources/finances/tithe_1_ach/