September 3, 2009

Editor: Brian Bakeman, 1501 NW 24^th St, Oklahoma City OK 73106

Phone: (405) 530-2067; Email: bbakeman@okumc.org; Website: www.okumc.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

A great big thank you to everyone of the over 300 people who attended the workshops this year and a special thanks to the host churches and their staff who helped so much to make everyone feel at home. I also just want to say thank you to the District Superintendents and their Administrative Assistants who helped promote and encourage participation. I would like to think there are people around the state who know just a little more than they did before the workshops.

 

 

Is your church one of the 148 Oklahoma United Methodist Churches that we don’t have an email address for? As we try to update our records for the Conference, it is a tremendous help in communicating with everyone to have a church email address. If you have a church email address and don’t know if it is correct in Brick River, would you take just a moment this week and check your Brick River information to verify that all of the information there is correct?

 

 

Tiara Dalton is getting ready to send out the publicity for the 2009 Clergy Benefits Essentials Workshop. This year we are going to host an additional workshop at the new Holliman Lodge at Camp Egan. The dates for the workshops are November 5 and 6 for Canyon Camp and November 12 and 13 at Camp Egan.

 

We are trying to make several changes in the schedule this year knowing that many have particular questions in light of the troubling economy we are in. We will continue to have two different tracks: one for younger clergy and their spouses and a second track for clergy and their spouses who are nearing retirement age.

 

This is time well spent with clergy and spouses to discuss short term and long term financial plans and how to meet your personal goals for the future.

 

 

If your church or church agency receives funds from the Annual Conference, you are required to submit an audit each year in order to continue to receive those funds. Connie Gibson, chair of the Conference Audit Committee, has informed me that there are still several audits that have not been turned in. You are required by the Book of Discipline to submit these audits to her committee.

 

I encourage you to turn in your audits as quickly as possible.

 

 

Giving for the month of August dropped off significantly. Normally at this time of year, the conference has received about 58% of the apportionments. This year, the amount has dropped to 54% or a drop of $677,318 from where we would normally be.

I am in the process of trying to estimate where we might end the year. I will present those figures at the September CF&A meeting so that we can alert all of the various Conference agencies and departments what their potential shortage might be for this year. It truly has been and continues to be a challenging year for all of us across the state as we look for new sources of revenue to carry out our ministry.

 

 

This year World Communion Sunday will be celebrated on October 4^th. This important church wide special offering goes to support scholarships for U.S. racial and ethnic minority students and international students. The average scholarship ranges from $250 to $12,000 a year to cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, room, and other expenses.

 

Education is a valuable asset not to be wasted. Please encourage your congregation to support this important ministry that helps people around the world.

 

By Rick Carlin

 

This month I would like to share some claim statistics with you regarding the Oklahoma Annual Conference Insurance Plan and PACT as a whole.

 

From January 2006 to July 2009 the number of Workers Compensation claims for all of PACT was 432 with a total payout of $3,410,150. Over that two and one-half years span, 183 claims were some sort of slip, trip or fall with a total payout of $2,916,148. That means out of the total number of claims, 42.3% were of the slip, trip and fall variety and 85.5% of the total dollars paid out were for slip, trip and fall claims paid to injured workers.

 

For that same period the number of General Liability claims for all of PACT was 718 with a total payout of $3,239,253. The number of slip, trip and fall GL claims was 382 or 53.2% of all claims with a payout of $1,745,869 or 53.8%. General Liability claims are mainly filed on behalf of members or visitors to your church.

 

Most of the slip, trip and fall claims could have been prevented with a little common sense and foresight. The categories for Slip claims include slippery conditions for weather (ice, snow and water) and food, grease, etc. Always make sure to mop up spills and post signs when the floor is wet as well as having mats at entrances if the weather requires it.

 

The categories for Trip claims are tripping from different levels and/or same level. Make sure changes in floor levels are well marked (stairs, steps, etc.) and any carpet tears are repaired or replaced to help prevent trips.

 

Many falls can be avoided with proper ladder safety; additionally if you have openings in the ground (e.g. potholes in the parking lot) make sure they are well marked or repaired as soon as possible.

 

Out of the 20 conferences participating in PACT, Oklahoma incurred the most total claims for all insurance lines written in PACT for the period January 2006 to July 2009. We had 443 claims for a total of $13,847,821 in property, general liability, workers compensation and automobile. This continuing trend means less money for ministry and more for premiums.

 

The PACT website, www.umcpact.org, has numerous Ministry Protection Memos with more detailed suggestions on how to prevent accidents in your church and help keep your employees, visitors and members safe.

 

Please take some time this month to walk through your church with a fresh set of eyes and look for any hazards that could be repaired or replaced to help prevent injury. It will be time well spent.