news article
What are Ministry Shares?
February 12, 2025 / By UNY Communications / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Do you know the strength in the United Methodist Connection? When several Upper New York churches were severely damaged after the “Blizzard of the Century” in December 2022, a church in Cape Cod, Massachusetts collected $30,000 and split it evenly among three churches in the Buffalo-area to help with the clean-up efforts. This church is not part of the Upper New York Conference, but members felt compelled to help. This is one example of the power of the United Methodist Connection. It’s United Methodist churches helping other United Methodist churches. Plain and simple: it’s people helping people.
When you support your church through a financial donation, you may not realize that some of that money is going to help other people and churches. Every church across the connection supports The United Methodist Church’s mission and ministry through Ministry Shares. Also known as apportioned giving, Ministry Shares are divided and distributed throughout the church locally and globally either through the General or the Upper New York Conference Connectional Ministry.
General Connectional Ministry dollars support seven General Church Funds and the Northeastern Jurisdiction:
- World Service Fund- the financial lifeline of The United Methodist Church that helps build new churches, prepare clergy and lay leaders, increase the number of young clergy and pay missionary salaries, general agencies that support local congregations and annual conferences.
- Ministerial Education Fund- helps people become ordained ministers by funding 13 United Methodist seminaries.
- Black College Fund- a program of The United Methodist Church that supports 11 historically Black colleges and universities related to the church.
- Africa University- the first private, fully accredited institution of higher learning on the African continent.
- Episcopal Fund- supports bishops as they lead the ministry of congregations. The fund pays for bishops' salaries, pensions, health benefits, office and travel expenses, and a portion of bishops' office staff.
- General Administration Fund- this fund helps support General Conference Sessions, Judicial Council, Historical artifacts, General Commission on Archives and History, and unity and interreligious concerns of the General Commission of Christian Unity and Interreligious ConcernsInterdenominational Cooperation Fund- helps support ecumenical efforts with other Christian faiths by giving United Methodists a presence and voice in the activities of several national and worldwide ecumenical organizations.
- Northeastern Jurisdiction- the Upper New York Conference is part of the Northeast Jurisdiction and is responsible for electing bishops, determining conference boundaries, establishing boards, promoting the church’s interests, and more.
Upper New York Conference Connectional Ministry dollars support everything United Methodists of Upper New York do together: from planting new faith communities among refugee communities, to providing summer youth camping opportunities at our camp and retreat centers, to appointing called and equipped pastors to local churches, to deploying trained emergency response teams to disaster sites across the state. We are able to do so much because we share resources with one another. Click here to download the 2024 Ministry Shares Allocation document and learn more about where your ministry dollars are invested.
Click here to download a printable brochure explaining everything you need to know about Ministry Shares for 2025.