In preliminary year-end funding figures, the Church of the Brethren General Board has reported record funding for 2005. The figures came from pre-audit reports of cumulative donations received from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2005. Donations of more than $3.6 million to the Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) almost equalled donations to the board’s Core Ministries Fund, which exceeded $3.7 million in giving received from individuals and congregations.
“The remarkable giving to EDF has added $2 million new dollars in giving to General Board ministries, and that must be celebrated,” said Stan Noffsinger, general secretary of the board. Comparable figures from 2004 reveal “the generosity of the Brethren,” Noffsinger said. In 2004 the EDF received giving of less than a million dollars, totaling $838,037. Giving to the Core Ministries Fund was slightly higher the previous year, totaling $3,829,879 in 2004.
The EDF provides grants to support disaster relief work carried out by Brethren Disaster Response, Disaster Child Care, Church World Service, longterm disaster recovery groups, and refugee services.
The Core Ministries Fund supports much of the work of the board’s program units that are not self-funded, including Congregational Life Ministries, the Youth and Young Adult Office, Global Mission Partnerships, and Brethren Volunteer Service among others.
In other pre-audit year-end totals, other funds of the General Board also fared well in 2005: the Global Food Crisis Fund received giving of more than $295,000 (as compared to $290,820 in 2004); the Emerging Mission Fund received donations of more than $75,000 (as compared to $42,788 in 2004).
A complete audited financial report for the General Board will be available this summer with the board’s 2005 Annual Report.