Conference sees uptick in apportionments paid for 2010

2/3/2011

 By GLENN HANNIGAN
      Keith Cox is familiar with the drill. He’s even learned to enjoy it a bit.
      Cox, Treasurer of the North Georgia Conference, knows that when the first week of January rolls around, the normally quiet main office at Simpsonwood more closely resembles a post office on April 15 than it does a retreat center in the middle of winter.
     “You know it’s coming,” Cox said. “And it is kind of fun to have so many people showing up from across the conference. It gets pretty lively around here.”
     Indeed, the first week of January marks the deadline for final payment of apportionments. The last-minute rush, for various North Georgia church leaders, has become something of an annual pilgrimage.
      When the final payments rolled in on Jan. 7, $22,997,416.68 had been collected. The total represents 88.75 percent of apportionments, an increase from 86.1 percent collected in 2009 and 88.3 percent in 2008. In total dollars, North Georgia churches paid $370,000 more in 2010 than 2009.
   Five districts paid more than 92 percent of their apportionments: Augusta (94.4 percent), Rome Carrollton (94.3 percent), Athens Elberton (94.2 percent), Atlanta College Park (93.7) and Atlanta Roswell (92.6 percent).
     “We had a good year in 2010, but it is still a challenging economic climate,” Cox said. “We remain cautiously optimistic. Many families are still struggling as the job market continues to be weak, but there have been some positive signs.
           “We also know that Christians are people of hope. We know our hope is well placed.”
 
2010 Apportionments
Amount Paid
Percent
$25,910,000.00
$22,997,416.68
88.75%
 
DISTRICT                                                  PAID                      Percent
ATHENS ELBERTON                     $1,662,558.00             94.17%
ATLANTA COLLEGE PARK           $2,203,368.00             93.65%
ATLANTA DECATUR OXFORD     $1,947,191.00             82.17%
ATLANTA EMORY                           $3,456,736.00              84.54%
ATLANTA MARIETTA                      $3,166,019.00              84.99%
ATLANTA ROSWELL                     $3,541,974.00               92.60%
AUGUSTA                                        $1,784,742.00               94.39%
GAINESVILLE                                 $2,150,963.00               84.85%
GRIFFIN                                           $1,447,537.00               86.85%
LaGRANGE                                     $1,715,042.00               89.77%
NORTHWEST                                 $1,380,077.00               85.44%
ROME CARROLLTON                  $1,453,777.00               94.28%
 

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