PORTLAND, OR (June 25, 2007) \u2013 Without questions or comment, delegates to the 122nd Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church approved the Mission and Ministry Budget of $20.1 million for fiscal year 2008.
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\nThis is the first time the denomination has presented a Mission and Ministry Budget in place of the more traditional department-oriented budget. The new budget format better reflects the work of all mission and ministry initiatives, some of which were not included in the former budget format (such as Covenant World Relief, Paul Carlson Partnership), explained Treasurer Dean Lundgren.<\/p>\n
Below are the budget allocations for 2008 \u2013 the respective percentages of total budget are in parentheses:
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0World Mission – $8.8 million (43.7%)
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Compassion, Mercy and Justice – $3.33 million (16.6%)
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Church Growth and Evangelism – $4.1million\u00a0 (20.3%)
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Christian Formation – $1.25 million (6.2%)
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Ordered Ministry – $1.5 million (7.6%)
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0North Park University – $1.14 million (5.7%)<\/p>\n
Because the work of the Department of Communication and administration functions serve all of the other ministry areas, those two areas of expense are allocated to the various ministry initiatives commensurate with the contributions made in each ministry area, as well as those areas\u2019 percentage of total expenses. Those two areas will, however, continue to manage to individual departmental budgets as do the other ministry areas.<\/p>\n
Lundgren outlined \u201csix significant organizational changes\u201d that have impacted the budget:
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Creation of the new Department of Compassion, Mercy and Justice.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Reorganization of the Department of World Mission
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Assimilation of the Department of Communication budget into the Coordinated Budget and the closing of the physical Covenant Bookstore location in Chicago
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Movement of the Covenant Resource Center into the Department of Christian Formation
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Administrative reorganization
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Moving certain real estate functions from the Department of Church Growth and Evangelism to National Covenant Properties<\/p>\n
The new Mission and Ministry Budget now reflects project expenses that have not been part of previous Coordinated Budgets, allocating them to departments that oversee them:
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Added to the World Mission budget are short-term and project ministries ($2 million), and Friends of World Mission ($350,000)
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Added to Church Growth and Evangelism is Kingdom Builders ($300,000)
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Added to Ordered Ministry are Sustaining Pastoral Education ($466,000), and the Covenant External Orientation Program ($266,000)
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Added to Compassion, Mercy and Justice are Covenant World Relief ($1.5 million) and Paul Carlson Partnership (1.05 million)<\/p>\n
Because of the changes, year-by-year comparisons with previous budgets \u201care not as meaningful,\u201d Lundgren noted.<\/p>\n