Charge Conference!!!
Please, please, please go in and submit all of your forms from Charge Conference. It is imperative that these forms be submitted as soon as possible. The most important form - the Clergy Compensation Report - is essential in many ways. The total compensation from that report drives the pension calculation. If this form is not submitted, this will not only affect the church's budget, but the clergy's pension. Each church was responsible for having all forms except for the Lay Speaker Voting Form and Clergy Compensation Form submitted one week prior to their Charge Conference. After the Charge Conference, the deadline for submitting the Lay Speaker Voting Form and Clergy Compensation Form. Please make note of these deadlines for next year!



Gateway Updates
It is time to update the church and pastor profiles in Gateway. Please be sure when updating your pastor profile that your marital status is current and reflects the most recent change, if any, in status.



Scholarship Award Deadline
The 2010 Scholarships were awarded in June. If you know of anyone who was awarded a Scholarship and has not submitted the paperwork necessary to receive the award check, please have them do so no later than December 31, 2010. Completed paperwork must be postmarked by December 31, 2010 in order to be processed for payment. Please send paperwork via mail to the address below or or via fax to 410-309-9439.



Baltimore-Washington Conference
United Methodist Church
11711 East Market Place
Fulton, MD 20759-2594
Attention: Darryl Campbell



A complete packet must include the completed award letter with social security number, a copy of the student's fall semester bill and schedule.



Statistical Report Training (Please note change in time for evening training)

Statistical reports will be due January 20, 2011. They are not yet up online, however that time is coming soon. In preparation, the Regional Administrators along with Dave Schoeller, the newly hired business analyst for the Baltimore-Washington Conference (BWC), will be conducting two training sessions on Tuesday, December 7, 2010 here at the new BWC Mission Center. The afternoon session will run from 1—3 p.m. The early evening session will be from 6—8 p.m. (Please note time change from original post. The meeting was going to originally run from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.)

Both sessions will cover the same material: accessing the forms, entering the data, and discussion regarding the meaning of each question. This latter topic is important so that all churches are interpreting the questions in the same manner.

We recommend that pastors, church administrators and treasurers plan to attend one of the trainings offered.

There is no cost to attend training, however we do require a RSVP. If you have not done so, please RSVP to Darryl Campbell at dcampbell@bwcumc.org with the number of people in your group and which session you plan on attending. This will allow us to have the space and the materials ready and available for everyone.

Apportionment Information

It was voted at Annual Conference that the 2011 apportionment figures would remain the same as 2010. To figure out what your actual apportionment figure is, the pastor or treasurer can log into Gateway and access the church's Year-To-Date statement.

Every month an email is sent out to all pastors and current treasurers with a link to access their apportionment, medical and pension statements for current balances due and payments received. You can use that link to make a print-out of your statement. If you need to pay online via ACH you have to login and pay.

The Conference website has a real-time snapshot of goals and total payments with percentage paid for all churches. You can see this report by going to http://www.bwcumc.org/apportionments and selecting the district your church is in.

Clergy & Church Evaluations are Up and Running

The forms needed to complete the evaluation process are now up and ready to be accessed. Like the charge conference forms you can go to the web site and under Resources select the “Appointments and Evaluations” listing.

As with charge conference there are numerous resources available to help you fill out these forms. We encourage you to review the video, letter of introduction, SMART goal setting and tips for completing the forms as well as and the SAMPLES of the forms shown in this section before starting the process.

To begin to complete the forms you go to the website and sign in using your Gateway User ID and Password. As with other on-line forms only certain people can complete certain forms.

Clergy must complete:

·      Pastor/Deacon Self Evaluation Form,

·      Appropriate Advisory (including Clergy in Local Congregations, Deacons, and Clergy on Extension     Ministry)

·      Clergy Profile

·      Review Guide's comments on your self-evaluation form

·      Extension Ministry Report (only for clergy in Extension Ministry Appointments)

SPRC Chairs must complete:

·      Congregational Evaluation

·      Pastor Ministry Evaluation (one for each appointed pastor)

·      SPRC Advisory Form (one for each appointed pastor)

·      Appointment Evaluation (only after a change in appointment)

TOGETHER Clergy and SPRC Chairs must complete:

·      Church Profile

·      Review Guide's comments on your church evaluation forms

All forms must be completed by December 1, 2010 and must be submitted online in Gateway.

Your guide will provide feedback by January 31, 2011. You are then requested to view these comments.

Discipler Groups
Please go to http://www.bwcumc.org/content/discipler-groups-curriculum to download the December through February session material. Be sure to download a copy of the participant guide Session 42 – Ecological Justice and the attachment “What is your Ecological Footprint?” and bring it with you to Discipler Group.

Inclement Weather Reminder -- Our inclement weather policy is on the website when we approach the unpredictability of winter weather.