Contributions to Per Member Asking (PMA) received by the Office of the General Assembly in fiscal year 2021 (FY21) through August 31 total $336,965.

The amount is $37,811 more than the $163,145 budgeted projection to support the EPC’s Collaborative Ministries, Connectional Support, and Custodial Operations. However, PMA support in the first two months of FY21 (which runs from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021) is $17,908 less than the $354,873 contributed in the first two months of the previous fiscal year (FY20).

The 12-month rolling average for monthly PMA contributions is $197,830—virtually equal to the rolling average as of August 31, 2019. The amount given in August 2020 was $136,240.

“I am very thankful in this continued season of economic uncertainty that so many of our churches continue to be faithful in their PMA support,” said Jeff Jeremiah, EPC Stated Clerk. “The EPC is in a good financial position. We have been very careful in managing our operating expenses, and this care by our staff has resulted in our expenses being below budget in our fiscal year.”

Of the $336,965 received, $67,393 (20 percent) was contributed to EPC World Outreach.

In addition to PMA contributions, $870,358 in designated gifts were received through August 31. This total was $115,946 (15.4 percent) higher than the $754,412 in designated gifts received in the same period in FY20. Designated gifts include support for World Outreach global workers and projects, and contributions to EPC Special Projects such as Emergency Relief, church planting and revitalization initiatives, and the EPC’s holiday offerings.

Of the total, $864,844 was designated for World Outreach workers and projects, and $5,514 was designated for EPC projects. A major recipient of designated gifts in August was the Philemon Project GROW Center in Beirut, Lebanon. The World Outreach project received $121,359 in August. Many of these donations were in response to an August 4 explosion that rocked the city. An additional $1,333 was donated to the Beirut Explosion Emergency Relief Fund, which launched on August 27.

These amounts only reflect gifts received and distributed by the Office of the General Assembly, and do not reflect donations given directly to WO global workers or other projects.