Giving
“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” ~Matthew 6:21
Why Give?
At St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, we believe that generosity is at the heart of who God calls us to be.
Giving isn’t something God needs from us—it’s something God wants for us.
When we give, it’s not just the church that benefits; it’s our own spiritual lives that grow deeper and richer.
When you give through St. Paul's, you're supporting the work God is doing in and through our church.
Annual Budget
St. Paul’s UMC has an annual budget of approximately $2.2M. The largest percentage of our annual budget supports staff and personnel costs for our congregational ministries and our Weekday Ministries children’s programs. Building maintenance and repairs make up our second-largest category of expense. Investing in the lives of our staff and in the sacred space of this building allow us to offer a breadth of ministries to congregation and community, and we are grateful for all who support these ministries by giving faithfully to ongoing ministries.
Our ministry budget is supported by income from congregational giving, building use fees, Weekday Ministries program tuition, interest income, and fundraising. The annual operating budget is also supplemented with invested funds and memorial gifts, which allow us to care for larger capital projects and major programming initiatives.
Connectional Apportionments
Connectional Apportionment funds represent our local congregation’s support of denominational ministries through The United Methodist Church. They represent approximately 10% of our annual budget – something like a tithe. Together with funds from United Methodist congregations all over the world, these funds provide for our world-wide denominational structure and ministries. The apportionment monies are distributed among seven funds, which support missions, education, leadership and interfaith relationships, as well as the administrative costs of our denominational structures. A portion of these funds also stays within our Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference to support local ministries shared among WPA United Methodist churches. Learn more about the distribution of connectional apportionments.
