Welcome back to the fall season of local-church life! Summer is done. Kids are back at school. And local churches are starting their ministries again.

Just as last year, the conference finance and administration office is offering a host of webinars to help churches with finance and administration. Administration is a ministry too.

All church pastors should have received an email with projected 2027 budget information. The email was sent on Aug. 6. Please contact your pastor if you need the information. Pastors, if you have not received it, please contact David Quinn.

Our first webinar, on 2027 Budget Information, will take place on Sept. 15 at 7 p.m.
David and I will share information on preparing your church’s 2027 budget. We will present an overview of apportionments, clergy pension and health care changes, clergy flat rate, and property insurance. We recommend that your Finance Committee, Staff Parish Relations Committee, and Board of Trustees join us.

The following week, we will offer Protecting Your Church: Preventing the Most Common Property Insurance Claims, on Sept. 22 at 6:30 p.m. Elizabeth Stahl, Northern Illinois Conference’s risk manager, and a representative from ServPro will lead the conversation. They will describe real-world restoration examples of common property losses—including wind, roof and water damage, frozen pipes, sump-pump failures, and fallen trees—and practical steps your church can take to prevent and reduce damage. We recommend this for your Board of Trustees members.

The very next day, we will present, for pastors and employees, Benefits Enrollment, on Sept. 23 at 11:30 a.m. Rev. Cheryl Weaver, conference benefits officer, and a representative of Wespath will lead the webinar. They will present an overview of 2027 benefits plan changes before open enrollment begins in late October. Those who join in person will be able to ask questions. We encourage SPRCs and plan participants (enrolled pastors and lay staff) to join.

Charge conference season is also upon us, and we have updated our charge conference forms. We hope you will find them easier to use. A webinar on Charge Conference Forms, on Sept. 29 at 7 p.m., will be led by David Quinn. You will get everything you need to prepare for this year’s charge conference, including an overview of required forms, reporting on BrickRiver, and best practices for completing the process. We highly encourage those who will be completing the forms to attend the webinar.

We will address health benefits and pension again at the Benefits Conversation, on Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. Elaine Moy and others to be named will host. We will explore clergy benefit options and 2027 plan changes, including automatic escalation, how to de-escalate, and options for declining coverage. We highly encourage SPRC committees and pastors to join us for this one.

If you are a supervisor (pastor) or on SPRC and want information on how to manage staff, don’t miss the Leadership Essentials webinar on Oct. 15 at 11:30 a.m. Monica Reed from the General Council on Finance and Administration will lead it. She will teach practical strategies for effective leadership, performance coaching, documentation, and handling employee issues with confidence and consistency.

A second webinar on insurance will be Protecting Your Church: Preventing the Most Common Liability Insurance Claims on Oct. 27 at 7 p.m., led by Elizabeth Stahl, NIC risk manager. She will explore common church liability risks—from slips and falls and facility hazards to youth activities, volunteers, transportation, and special events—and explain practical ways to strengthen safety and risk management. Please encourage your Board of Trustees members to attend.

The final two webinars will address statistical reporting. The first one is Statistical Reporting, on Dec. 15 at 7 p.m., with David Quinn. He will walk through the 2026 statistical reporting process and show how clergy and church administrative and finance teams can prepare for accurate and timely reporting. The second one is Statistical Reporting: Questions and Answers, on Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. Please bring your questions about 2026 statistical reporting and receive guidance from the NIC finance team on completing the process accurately and effectively.

The webinars will be live. They will start on time with a 30- to 45-minute presentation followed by questions and answers. The presentations will be recorded and uploaded on our Finance and Administration Webinar page within a week. It may be helpful for a handful of members of your committees to watch it together. You may still view recordings of our 2025 webinars.

We look forward to seeing you at the webinars! Have a good start to the fall season at your church.