Rethinking Vacation Bible School: Faith Formation Beyond the Traditional Model
Vacation Bible school has long been a summer tradition in United Methodist churches, bringing children together for Bible stories, music, crafts, g…
Posted: February 24 2026 at 09:45 AM
In 2025, you gave $5,056,797 - 80 percent of our budgeted goal - to support missions and ministries.
This is the highest percentage we have achieved since 2016.
Strengthening our Shared Witness and Ministries
Because of your commitment to giving,
- churches received grants for new ministries with neighbors
- churches had access to more affordable property and liability insurance
- churches learned strategies for reaching new people
- lay and clergy learned skills for effective administration and ministry
- and much more
Achievements in Faithful Giving in 2025
- 24 churches paid over 100% in 2024 and 2025.
- 164 churches gave 100% in 2025 compared to 176 in 2024.
- 53 churches gave more in percentage in 2025 than in 2024 compared to 49 churches in 2024.
- 61 churches paid less in 2025 than in 2024, and 137 churches paid less in 2024 than in 2023 (including closed/merged churches).
- 26 churches gave 0 in 2025 compared to 33 churches that gave 0 in 2024 (including closed/merged churches.)
International United Methodist Ministry
As United Methodists, we are in partnership with other United Methodists around the world. We start churches; work alongside people learning sustainable agricultural practices, medical skills, and other abilities to build up their own communities; help people recover from disasters, and more. Because we share our funds alongside those of United Methodists around the world and have an existing administrative infrastructure, we can provide and support mission and ministry much more financially efficiently that independent ministry organizations.
Together, we paid 81 percent—that is, $1,082,126—of our General Church apportionments for 2025. (In 2024, we gave only 41 percent—that is, $778,533.)
Benefits and Insurance
To compensate our clergy with necessary medical insurance and pension benefits and provide our churches with reliable and affordable property insurance, we came close to meeting our commitments in full.
- Health and Pension Receipts: You submitted 92 percent of billed premiums. This is up from 80 percent in 2024.
- Clergy Responsibility of Health Insurance Premium Receipts: Clergy remitted 92 percent of their insurance obligation, up from 85 percent in 2024.
- Property Insurance Receipts: You submitted 82 percent of your property insurance premiums. This is a decrease from 90 percent in 2024.
Commitment to Transparency and Support
Your conference administration and finance staff intend to be honest and clear about our shared financial commitments so that we can be a reliable partner with every congregation. We want to communicate clearly so that ministry can grow stronger.
To support our local churches in navigating their financial responsibilities, we have offered nearly 20 webinars throughout the 2025 year. These sessions provided direct assistance, answered critical questions, and ensured that every leader felt equipped to manage their church's stewardship and obligations with confidence.
REMINDER: New Apportionment Formula
- To assist local churches in simplifying their budget, the Conference has adopted a simplified apportionment formula for 2026 based on income tiers. Churches with income under $250,000 are assessed 8%, those between $250,000 and $750,00 are assessed 10%, and those over $750,000 are assessed 12%. Income is defined by specific lines on the statistical report (line 55 minus lines 53 and 54b).
- Apportionments are based on the last completed statistical report as of Jan. 31 of apportionment year.
Fund Updates
- Repair the Harm to Children:
Northern Illinois Conference collected 100 percent of our $754,348 responsibility! The Repair the Harm to Children campaign was created by the Conference Committee on Finance and Administration and the Board of Trustees, in collaboration with Bishop Dan Schwerin, to address the needs of survivors in three ways: listening to and providing healing for survivors, contributing our fair share to the survivor fund, and strengthening safeguards to prevent harm in the future. We are grateful that 108 churches and 212 individuals participated in this endeavor. Read more. - Emergency Solidarity Fund:
Bishop Schwerin felt compelled to establish a fund to stand with the marginalized, which received strong support from our Conference Committee on Finance and Administration and Advocacy Partners Subcommittee. We are deeply grateful for the generous response of the Northern Illinois Conference. We distributed $60,000. These gifts enabled us to distribute three rounds of support directly and compassionately to the 20 Hispanic/Latinx churches and ministries within our conference, while also extending support to other communities experiencing similar hardship. Assistance focused on immediate and critical needs, including rent, bill payment, food, transportation, legal fees, and essential support for families in crisis. Read more.
Download this data as a pdf to share with your congregation.
Northern Illinois Churches: Connected in Generosity
The list is separated by district and lists the % of apportionment paid in 2025. Churches with a + sign increased their percentage from the year before and a * denotes they are a Mission Link Church.