Living the Connection: The Continuing United Methodist Church

Statistical Reporting for 2022 Due February 15th

posted on January 29

REMINDER:

Statistical Reports for 2022 are Due by February 15, 2023

Just a reminder, statistical reports for 2022 are due by Wednesday, February 15th. Several updates have been shared about GCFA's new AC STATS reporting system, along with the original instructions. All of those communications are shown below in reverse order, with the most recent email shown first. 

Thank you for sharing this with anyone helping with your local church statistical reporting! This email has been sent to pastors, church secretaries, treasurers, finance chairs, church council chairs, S/PPRC chairs, and Lay Leaders...for whom we have email addresses that you have provided on your church dashboard.

As always, reach out to our office if you have questions.

Update 3 (January 24, 2023):

The General Church's General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA) has responded. This email contains information as well as updated instructions.

Missing 2021 Data

As you may recall, due to COVID, we did not ask every question in the 2021 statistical report. Therefore, GCFA is working on adding their own calculated numbers to fill the questions we didn’t ask. GCFA is working to use “estimated” calculations that may or may not reflect the actual numbers of your church had we asked the question.  Please bear that in mind as you review the 2021 “inserted” figures.  Once they complete that, all 2021 numbers will be visible in the 2021 column. We will not be able to edit their calculated numbers. They did not provide a timeline for completion.

As a workaround, we have created a way for you to view previous years' data in your church dashboard. After signing in, navigate to https://www.wnccumc.org/2021-statistics to view your previous year's statistics. Note that we did not ask every question for 2021, so those questions have been omitted from this page. We recommend that you print this out as you enter in your 2022 statistics.

 

We have also removed all "variance warnings" from your 2022 report, so you will not be incorrectly flagged for variances from 2021 to 2022. This means that we ask that you be extra careful when entering your 2022 statistical numbers.

Contact Information

Please note that the email or contact information you see on the first page of the statistical system (AC Stats) does not reflect what we have in our database. To verify if the email address we have is correct, navigate to https://www.wnccumc.org/dashboardchurch in the Church Dashboard and look for “Email Address.”

GCFA has given us the ability to make certain changes (including email addresses), but have not given churches the ability to update that data. If you see an error, please submit a ticket to us at it@wnccumc.org and we will fix it as soon as possible. If you have previously sent in a ticket for an email address update, please do so again. Please note that even after we make a change, GCFA has to approve it, so there may be a significant delay from when we make the change to when it shows in your statistical report. We are grateful, in advance, for your patience.

Pre-Filled Apportionment and Benefit Numbers

We have also finished uploading the pre-filled questions related to benefits and apportionments. If you had signed in to AC Stats previously, please do so again to double-check the numbers we have entered. Please let us know if you find any that need correcting.

We are confident that, with this information and workaround, you will be able to complete your 2021 statistical information before the February 15th, 2021 deadline. If you have any questions or need any further clarification, please contact us at it@wnccumc.org. Thank you for your patience and understanding this 2022 statistical reporting year.

Chris Hampton
Director of IT Services
it@wnccumc.org or (704) 464-0994

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Update 2 (1/9/2023): 

We wanted to give you an update on the status of AC Stats. As previously mentioned, the system had issues with allowing users to update their church information and 2021 information not showing in the 2021 column.

Since AC Stats is not software controlled, managed, or developed by the Western NC Conference, we have alerted the General Church's General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA) multiple times and are awaiting their response and a potential fix.

To date, despite our attempts to contact them, they have not responded nor fixed the issue(s).

We acknowledge that other conferences are facing similar issues and that GCFA is overwhelmed with requests.

We understand how frustrating this can be and apologize for the inconvenience this is causing. We are actively working on backup ideas to determine if another course of action should be taken. We promise to alert you as soon as we know something or if another course of action is warranted.

Thank you for your patience.

R. Mark King, Conference Statistician

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Update 1:

We have been alerted by some churches that some contact data is outdated and 2021 data does not show in the 2021 column.

Since AC Stats is not software controlled, managed, or developed by the Western NC Conference, we have alerted the General Church's General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA) and are awaiting their response and a potential fix.

We will alert you as soon as we hear back. We apologize for the inconvenience, especially to those of you who wished to quickly complete this yearly task.

Thank you for your patience and reporting of these issues.

Chris Hampton
Director of IT Services
it@wnccumc.org or (704) 464-0994

Statistical Reporting for 2022 is READY and AVAILABLE!
To Our Local Church Pastors, Treasurers, and Membership Secretaries:
 
The Western North Carolina Conference statistical system (NEW: ACStats) will open on January 3, 2022, and thus, be available for input of 2022 information.  All statistical information must be entered and complete by Wednesday, February 15, 2023.  In order to access the system, you can do so in the following manner:

  • Watch this video for training on the new system: https://www.wnccumc.org/acstatsvideo.
  • Log in to your Church Dashboard and click the “GCFA AC Stats auto-login” link.
  • If your name is not listed, select “I’m not Listed” and create an account. If your name is listed, select it, and use the username/password you set when creating your account. 

Once you have accessed the system, you can find instructions by clicking the “Instructions” button or by clicking on the link on each individual question. Tables are now listed on a single page, instead of multiple pages like in the previous system. Your previous answers can be found in the 2021 column. Let me share a few things that may pre-empt some questions.

  • We have returned to the format, from 2021 in 2022 information, to asking all questions required per the Book of Discipline.
  • We asked that all information be collected for all church types – Chartered, Mission, New Church Starts (Unchartered) or Satellites.  Radio buttons are included on the Church Info page to indicate your status if other than Chartered.  Satellites or campuses of existing chartered churches which do not have their own GCFA number – whether designated as new starts or not – should be included in the reporting of the lead or main church.
  • All information reported should reconcile to information held by the church – whether membership, attendance, or financial records.  If computerized membership records are maintained, the information provided should reconcile to that listing.  Financial records should be able to be reconciled to those year-end financial statements completed and audited at the local church. 
  • Certain items such as pension and health benefit payments, conference and district apportionments, Special Sunday offerings, and General and Conference Advance specials will be prepopulated from our Conference reports based on your remittances over the course of the year 2022.  These questions may appear before we enter them but should be “read only”. Please note that any answers you give that have the “Conf” tag will be overwritten by the upload.  This upload is expected to take place by January 15, 2023.   Please don’t submit prior to this upload being accomplished.  Make no changes to these amounts.
  • Notice Table I, lines 2a and 2b- Professions of Faith are segmented between “Through Confirmation” and “Other than Through Confirmation.”
  • Line 7a has been added for “On-Line Worship Attendance.”  Please do not include any on-line attendance on line 7.  Line 7 should only include in person attendance for 2022, only for those weeks of actual in person services.  See additional instructions for live streaming / online counting in WNCC Online Counting Instructions.
  • Line 7b is a new line introduced in 2021 and will continue for 2022.  This question offers an opportunity to report other online and digital formatted events.  This is a total participation number, not an averaging.  And it may include same individuals who participated multiple times. 
  • It is important that all church tangible property (land, buildings, and equipment) be included in Table II, question 24, including parsonages and cemeteries.
  • Payroll Protection Program loans of the 2020 CARES Act and subsequent Acts should be reported on line 27 IF NOT FORGIVEN (regardless of if forgiveness application has been submitted).  If forgiven, no need to list for 2022.
  • The system is designed to review for certain variances and validations once the “Save” button has been pushed.  Should any variances or validations be noted in read, it is critical to include comments regarding the propriety of the variance or review the information for its accuracy to clear the variance or validation error.  Submissions will not be considered complete unless these variances or validations are cleared or contained comments/explanations.
  • Please take extra care for the accuracy of the information provided.  This information will be utilized to calculate and apportion the conference and district budgets for 2024.  If changes are noted following submission, please make your district and conference office aware of the changes. 
  • Once completed, you must return to your church’s dashboard at wnccumc.org, click “Submittable Forms” and then select “Year End Signature Page.”  We must have the Pastor in charge, Lay Leader, and church treasurer sign off indicating they have reviewed the entire ACStats submission.

If you have any questions regarding the system and its input, please do not hesitate to contact your District Administrator (the treasure trove of information) or myself at the Conference Treasury Services office.
 
R. Mark King
Conference Statistician

Statistical Reporting for 2022 Due February 15th