From Pastor Kendra
August 2025 ~ Ministerial Support & Administration
Ministerial Support & Administration (MS&A) is by far the largest of our apportioned funds. At $730.92, it is double our next highest line item. So what do we get for all that money? The answer is, we get as much as we avail ourselves of.
This fund is the one that directly supports the work of our Conference. It pays the people who answer the phone when we call the Conference office as well as the operating expenses of the office. It provides scholarships for seminary students and continuing education for church leaders. It supports our camps, our youth & young adult ministries. It plants new churches, redevelops existing churches, and gives salary support to churches in crucial areas who can no longer afford to pay a pastor. It pays to run the website & send out emails. It provides staff to help us with finances, legal questions, and organizational help. Of all the funds that we pay into, this is the one fund that most directly affects our church and our ministry as well as supporting our United Methodist neighbors.
As we are moving into new and different models of ministry, MS&A will be used to support more creative ministry models. Already underway is building a collection of recorded sermons, worship services for churches who either don’t have a pastor or can’t find pulpit supply. A similar database for study groups is being explored as well as creating staff positions to handle larger tasks like social media, web presence, bookkeeping, payroll, as well as other shared administrative duties. All of it made possible by our apportionment dollars.
