Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders from around the world gathered to discuss financial adjustments, outreach strategies and other organizational issues during the 2009 Spring Meeting, April 5 and 6.
About 200 delegates and other attendants continued to monitor the economy as it relates to tithing patterns and how the world headquarters reacts to the current economic situation.
In a report to the world church's Executive Committee presented April 5, finance officers revealed savings from a hiring freeze, demonstrated how exchange rates have affected world tithe.
The world headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland (USA), continues to operate under its expense cap of 2 percent of world tithe. Last year it came in at about US$35.3 million, or about 15 percent under its cap.
Adventist Headquarters has saved an annualized net of about US$1.6 million recently by leaving some 20 employment vacancies unfilled. A 20-percent reduction in travel and a reduction of overall budgeted expenses have saved an additional US$1.4 million.
Adventist world church Treasurer Robert Lemon noted a 5 percent decrease in the U.S. dollar amount of tithes and offerings received by the church's headquarters during the fourth quarter of 2008 compared to the same quarter of 2007.
"Part of that is due to changes in the exchange rates, but some of it is due to actual decreases in tithes and offerings in the U.S. because of the economy," Lemon told committee members.
Lemon noted that it's not yet possible to confirm the tithe and offering trend as a comparison between the first quarters of 2008 and 2009. While totals for the first quarter of 2009 are still coming in, a valid comparison of the first two months of the quarter is not possible as there are different numbers of Sabbaths involved.
But when totaled, those figures could affect the world headquarters further. In February, Lemon told employees that a continuing decline in the U.S. dollar value of tithes and offerings by 5 percent would mean a reduction in the operating expense cap of $2 million and a loss of US$8 million to the Adventist Church world budget.
Committee members heard one statistic that demonstrates a worldwide church growth and giving pattern: Since its beginning, the Adventist Church has always received more tithe from its North American region than from the other 12 regions combined. But last year, that changed -- gross tithe from North America totaled US$894 million and tithe from other regions totaled US$1.04 billion.
Still, North America contributes about 63 percent when combining tithes and offerings. More specifically, about 13 percent is from members in the church's Southern region of the U.S. and about 12 percent is from the Pacific region of the United States.
Overall world tithe in 2008 totaled UIS$1.93 billion, up 8.5 percent over 2007, despite the troubled economy. Church administrators said, however, that about 43 percent of that increase in U.S. dollar terms was due to fluctuating exchange rates for world currencies.
Mission offerings from North America in 2008 totaled US$23.7 million, down from US$24.1 million in 2007. But mission offerings from other regions were up substantially to US$44.7 million in 2008, up from US$38.1 million in 2007. As was the case with tithe, about half of that increase was due to exchange rates, Lemon said.
Treasurers also briefed Executive Committee members on funds for which investment managers at headquarters are responsible, which total about US$295 million and include operating expenses, allocated project funds, endowments and extraordinary tithe. That extraordinary tithe was received from a single source, with US$90.4 million contributed in 2007 and US$11.3 million in 2008.
About 11 percent of the church's Operating Fund is invested in stocks, while 89 percent is in fixed income investments. None of the extraordinary tithe was invested in stocks.
For 2008, total investments yielded a negative return of US$7.6 million, or a 2.6 percent loss, but a positive return was experienced on the extraordinary tithe from low-interest savings.