Contributions to Per Member Asking (PMA) received by the Office of the General Assembly in fiscal year 2021 (FY21) through May 31 total $2,189,082. The amount is $335,599 (18.1 percent) more than the $1,853,483 FY21 PMA support projection to fund the EPC’s Collaborative Ministries, Connectional Support, and Custodial Operations.

With one month to go in the fiscal year (which runs from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021), PMA contributions are $25,812 above the $2,163,270 contributed over the same period in FY20. In addition, May PMA support of $154,111 brought the 12-month rolling average for monthly PMA contributions to $201,471. The rolling average has now increased for three consecutive months and is 1 percent above the 12-month rolling average as of May 2020.

“When we presented a significantly reduced budget to the 40th General Assembly last September, none of us envisioned being where we are at the end of May,” said Stated Clerk Jeff Jeremiah. “I am very grateful for how our churches have supported PMA in this most unusual year.”

“Our churches continue to demonstrate amazing generosity to the EPC,” said Dean Weaver, Stated Clerk-elect. “The past three months especially are truly awe-inspiring. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for God’s grace toward us.”

Of the $2,189,082 received, $437,816 (20 percent) was contributed to EPC World Outreach.

In addition to PMA contributions, $5,153,361 in designated gifts were received through May 31. This total was $236,059 (4.4 percent) lower than the $5,389,420 in designated gifts received in the same period in FY20. As noted in previous monthly reports, the discrepancy is largely attributed to significant donations to the Emergency Relief Fund following Hurricane Dorian’s devastation in the Bahamas and North Carolina in September 2019, and several large anonymous gifts designated for church planting efforts. Not counting contributions to those two areas, giving to designated funds is $400,267 more than in FY20.

Of the total, $5,031,772 was designated for World Outreach workers and projects, and $121,589 was designated for EPC Special Projects such as Emergency Relief, church planting and revitalization initiatives, and the EPC’s Thanksgiving and Christmas offerings.

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