As is our custom, the financial statements of the United Church of God, an International Association, are printed in entirety in the first issue of United News following the December Council of Elders meetings.

In accordance with our bylaws, an external audit of our financial statements, procedures and operations is performed each year. The final report is presented to the Council of Elders at its December meeting, then made public in the Church’s newspaper.

Again, this year, the Ohio-based public accounting firm of Clark Schaefer Hackett was engaged to perform the audit for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022.

As we are now six months into the Church’s current fiscal year, it may be interesting to you to review some highlights of our past and current fiscal year.

First, let me report that the Church’s financial condition continues to be very strong, for which we are thankful to God and to the members, donors, coworkers and others who faithfully support His work.

Following are a few items and statistics of interest, with page reference to the attached financial statements, as you review them.

Unmodified Opinion

On pages 1 and 2 of the audit report, the external accounting firm states its opinion that the financial statements and information “present fairly the financial position of [the Church] at June 30, 2022.”

Assets and Liabilities

On page 3, the Statement of Financial Position (otherwise known as the Balance Sheet) discloses our asset and liability balances at year-end. It is notable that total assets of the Church have increased by 18% over the prior year. On page 14 (Note 8) of the report the balance in each restricted fund is noted. Donations made with specific designations are used only for those purposes. Cash balances continue at about the same level so far in this fiscal year.

Income and Expense

The Statement of Activities, otherwise known as the “Income Statement,” provides an overview of income and expenses by category for the fiscal year. The Church’s overall “income,” which primarily consists of tithes and offerings (listed as contributions in the statement) and Holy Day offerings increased overall by about $1 million in fiscal year 2022. As of the date of this writing, donations for the first six months of this fiscal year are running slightly above the same level as last year.

Assistance to the Needy (Third Tithe Assistance)

On the Statement of Functional Expense (page 5) you will note that in fiscal 2022, in recognition of its responsibility to help those with long- or short-term financial needs, the Church provided over $1 million in “assistance to the needy.” By comparison, about $420,000 was donated to the Assistance Fund during the year.

International Subsidy

Recognizing our commitment to members outside the United States, the Church provides regular subsidies to several international areas, including congregations in Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, Southeast Asia, Mexico, South America and others. The total amount of such international assistance in fiscal 2022 exceeded $1.4 million, which does not include the cost of printing, postage and shipping of foreign language magazines and booklets.

Expenses

While the Income Statement shows overall expenses, if you are interested in more detail on how money was spent, please review the Schedule of Functional Expenses on pages 12 and 13.

As you can see, God continues to provide what the Church needs to accomplish its commission of preaching the gospel and caring for the members of the Church around the world. We are grateful to Him, and to the members, coworkers and donors who faithfully support the Work. May we all continually seek God’s will and be judicious in performing it.

As always, if you have any questions about the finances of the Church or anything in the attached financial statements, please feel free to contact me, or our recently appointed Treasurer, Barry Korthuis, at any time.