Mission Agency Support

In addition to the Mission Share, each congregation is asked for an amount equal to 1% of their operating income for Mission Agency Support. Operating income was reported on the total line 52 of Table 3 of the year-end statistical reports.

Find out how your congregation's Mission Agency Support breaks down. Open this Excel file, Mission Agency Support spreadsheet, type in your church's Mission Agency Support amount and view the breakdown for your congregation.

The Mission Agency Relationship with Great Plains

 Recipient of Mission Agency support funds shall:

1. Demonstrate a structural or historical connection to the Great Plains Annual Conference or its predecessor conferences, indicating a clear United Methodist connection.
2. Maintain an independent board of directors.
3. Conduct an annual audit or financial review and submit to the conference treasurer by June 30 (or six months after the end of the fiscal year each year) each year.  
4. Complete an annual budget request, including a narrative, as outlined in the application form by November 1 each year.
5. Sign a covenant and Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Great Plains Annual Conference, adopted by the agency’s board of directors and the Great Plains Justice & Mercy Team on behalf of the conference.
    

Sample Covenant (download here)

Sample MOU (download here)

Missional Priorities

1.    Missional priorities are our preferred response to the present reality of our conference. They will be reviewed regularly and may be adjusted as our context for ministry changes.

2.     Enhancing the ministry of local churches, including Christ-centered excellence in:

• Youth Ministry. We will seek to equip local churches to reach youth in their congregations and communities by providing support and training to both paid and volunteer youth leaders. We also will equip congregations that currently have no youth program to reach youth in their communities.
• Preaching and worship. We will offer opportunities for pastors to become more effective preachers, and we will connect pastors and other worship leaders with resources that will assist them in designing passionate, relevant, Christ-centered worship.
• Engaging the community. We will seek to equip local congregations to understand and to connect with the community, with a particular emphasis on going beyond the walls of the church to witness and to serve.
• Transforming service to the world. We will connect congregations to the needs of the world and offer them strategies and opportunities to address both immediate and systemic needs.

John Wesley wrote in his journal, “I look upon all the world as my parish.” His profound words remind us that discipleship and mission cannot be separated. God loves us unconditionally and invites us to be His hands and feet in the world to bring about His kingdom here on earth. 

The calling of the Great Plains United Methodist Conference (GPUMC) is to equip and connect congregations to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Our missional priorities are to enhance the ministry of local churches to produce Christ-centered excellence in youth ministry, preaching and worship, engaging the community, and transforming service to the world. Using an income-based formula for Mission Shares enables the conference to be responsive to the accomplishment of these goals.

Each of us, as members of a local church, supports our local church by giving our tithes (10 percent) and offerings. These gifts come from the income that we have received. As Christians, we believe that our income is a blessing from God. We also believe that tithing has a sound Scriptural foundation as an act of worship and discipleship.

The same motivation used to support the local church is applied to the GPUMC’s mission and ministry. Each local church is therefore called to support the GPUMC based on the income of the church. The Great Plains Conference Mission Share formula, asks churches for 10 percent of their local church’s  annual income for this budget support.

An additional way we are asked to show our love for God and neighbor is by supporting our mission agencies across the Great Plains Conference. 

Mission agencies in our conference are separately incorporated institutions with a connection to the GPUMC. They encompass colleges/universities, health and welfare institutions, ministries with the poor, and ecumenical/interchurch organizations. At the Uniting Conference, we made the commitment to support mission agencies through Mission Agency Support giving set at 1 percent of a local church’s annual income. 

These mission agencies serve a vital role; they help us extend the outreach of our local churches, connect us to our communities to address both immediate and systemic needs, and develop leaders. They help us break outside the church building walls to go into the world and be God’s hands and feet, and to ultimately make disciples of Jesus Christ. 

These mission agencies serve a vital role; they help us extend the outreach of our local churches, connect us to our communities and the needs of our brothers and sisters, offer opportunities to address both immediate and systemic needs, and develop leaders. They help us break outside the church building walls to go into the world and be His hands and feet, and to ultimately make disciples of Jesus Christ. 

Each mission agency relies on different funding sources and amounts. The 1 percent asked of Great Plains churches is an integral part of each agency’s total funding plan. The mission agencies we support as the conference are aligned with our missional priorities and collectively represent legacies of support from the three former conferences. The Plan of Organization calls for an aggregate request that is divided among them all. 

We believe that just as the hearts of individuals are warmed by the support they give to their local church, the hearts of each of these bodies of believers we call the church, will be warmed by the support they are able to offer to the equipping ministries of their conference.

Applying to Become a Mission Agency

If your organization is interested in being considered as a Great Plains Mission Agency, you are invited to reach out to the conference staff person who relates with the Justice & Mercy Team (Justice & Mercy Coordinator or Director of Congregational Excellence). Upon receipt of your inquiry,

1. Conference staff  (or a person designated by conference staff) will conduct a site visit and/or assess whether your organization might be a good fit according to current MOU and Covenant guidelines established by Justice & Mercy Team. 
2. If a potential fit, the staff will assist your organization in crafting a letter of formal request, highlighting in particular the justice work of the organization, past and present connection to the UMC,  guiding vision, and current budget.
3. Requests will be reviewed by Justice & Mercy Mission Agency Taskforce & Executive Team for a decision by January 31 of each year for inclusion in the budget submitted to Annual Conference of the same year.
    

Mission Agency Grant Screen Tool (download here)