Administration Matters: March 2024

Issue 92 of Administration Matters

A bimonthly e-newsletter for ELCA congregational and synodical leaders. It addresses common, practical issues including finance, governance, risk management, tax, legal concerns and topics of interest about day to day operations and management in church settings.

You’re not late, everyone else is just early!

Final call for registration for the 2024 ELCA Youth Gathering, MYLE, and the tAble in New Orleans! Registration will close on April 15. Thanks to a generous donor, we are able to provide a waived registration fee (which includes program, housing and food) for our pre-events, the Multicultural Youth Leadership Event and the tAble! To learn more, visit: elca.org/Gathering.

Church Mutual update

The churchwide organization is aware of the difficulties currently facing the entire property insurance marketplace and the direct impact of insurers’ underwriting decisions. As you can imagine, Church Mutual is also directly impacted by these loss trends which influence their underwriting decisions regarding ELCA congregations and synods. >More

How to handle embezzlement

Anyone who is a victim of embezzlement experiences devastation on many levels. Trust has been broken and relationships are, no doubt, badly damaged. Steps must be taken to not only deal with the monetary loss but also the emotional and psychological impacts felt. >More

2023 tax guides are available through Portico

Two helpful tax guides are now available for church personnel. Portico Benefit Services provides ministers and congregations participating in the ELCA benefit program with access to tax guides:
• The Clergy Tax Return Preparation Guide by Richard R. Hammar gives special attention to tax-related topics most relevant to ministers.
• Federal Reporting Requirements for Churches helps congregations understand their federal tax-reporting requirements.
Both tax guides are available on myPortico and the Tax Filing Information tab on EmployerLink.

Writing minutes like a pro

Minutes are a tangible record of the meeting for its participants and a source of information for future reference. Succinct minutes that capture the purpose of the meeting and its agreed outcomes are a record that can be referred back to and be used for follow-up purposes later. Good minutes are concise and to the point while including all critical information. >More

Tax guide for churches and religious organizations

Congregations and other religious nonprofit organizations are governed by special sets of rules and regulations. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides a summary of some of those laws in IRS Publication 1828 Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations. The topics covered include tax exempt status issues, substantiating charitable contributions, unrelated business income tax, and special rules on clergy compensation. >More