How do I apply to be a District Lay Member at Large to Annual Conference 2023?
Click here to apply
The deadline is January 31, 2023

What is an audit report?

 Auditor's Report Definition

A church audit is done by an independent person, team or firm. 
If your church has under $500k in receipts, a qualified member can volunteer if they aren’t part of the financial leadership or financial handling (or related) in any way. Best practice is to trade volunteers with a sister church. 

If you have over $500k to $1m in receipts, you should have a CPA do this every three years.

Over $1m, every two years.

All churches of all sizes are required to complete an audit report – just not necessarily with your CPA or firm.
The report is presented at a finance committee meeting.

Things which are NOT an audit:

• The Local Church Audit Guide Internal Control Checklist or protection of church finances checklist with “yes” or “no” written or typed in
   
• A “review” or “compilation” by a CPA
   
• The finance report from charge conference
   
• Bank statements
   
• Summaries of accounts
   
• A letter written by your finance secretary, accountant or treasurer saying they give you a gold star
   
• A copy of your budget
   
• Income/expense sheet from an Admin Council meeting
   
• A Fund Balance Audit Worksheet with no supporting documentation or finance committee approval
   
• Anything which has not been formally presented to a finance committee and approved as an audit report
  Note: some larger churches may have an Audit Subcommittee who accepts this report.

RESOURCES:

Auditor's Report Definition

NGUMC Audit Training Video

Finance Committee Training Guide

Church Audit Guide

Church Audit FAQ 

NGUMC's Latest Audit Report

Webinar: Church Audit - You Can Do This!

I've been a lay member to annual conference for 20 years, why do I have to apply?

Lay members are chosen based on applications - allowing for a delegation which best represents the district equitably.

I was elected as a lay member to Jurisdictional and/or General Conference. Do I have to apply?

Those elected for positions at larger conferences should represent their churches as a lay member if at all possible. District positions are ONLY guaranteed to the district United Methodist Men president, the district United Methodist Women president and the district Lay Leader. Central West churches are encouraged to consider this as they nominated their 2022 church lay leadership.

Is there a no-contact alternative to physical signatures on documents?

How to safely obtain approval signatures:

OPTION #1: After the form has been completed, scan it and email it to the person needing to sign.
                    They sign their copy and scan it, then email to CentralWest@ngumc.net.​

OPTION #2:  After the form has been completed, scan it and email it to the person needing to sign.
                     They forward the requesting email with the document attached with a message saying "I approve the                                                      information on this form as it is in the file attached".

OPTION #3: Send a physical COPY of the document by US Mail (or other no-contact drop off) to the person                                                                needing to sign.
                     They sign this copy, then mail it to:
                     Central West District UMC
                     PO Box 2058
                     Hiram, GA 30141

Why does every committee member need an email address?

When an informational email is sent by the district or conference a list is generated based on the contact information entered into Data Services in the lay leadership report. Email is primary means of communication on both the district and conference level. If a mailing list is created of all the Finance Chairs in the district and your church's chair doesn't have an email address, they will not receive the information and the district/conference does not manually check to see if each person received the email. 

I want to receive the newsletter, how do I sign up?

Easy! CLICK HERE or scroll to the bottom of this page and click the "Subscribe Now" button.
 

Why am I getting unsolicited emails about UMC issues?
Did the church sell my email address?

If you are a delegate to Annual Conference, your contact information is printed in the annual Conference Journal by Standing Rule. The info is publicly available in the journal published each spring. From time to time, companies may send sales inquiries, solicit donations or groups may lobby for their causes. If you do not wish to receive these emails, block the sender as you would any other spammer. NGUMC does not sell this information and does not provide it in any other way than the Conference Journal. 

So, we're the Central West District, but my church is listed in "East" for meetings. Where do I go?

The district is often divided in half - East & West - for major meetings.

This saves time, gas mileage and resources.
WEST: Haralson, Carroll and West Paulding (Pleasant Grove Temple & Smyrna Dallas only) 
EAST: Cobb, Douglas & East Paulding.