PLEASE CHECK THE WEBINAR INFORMATION BELOW
Each local church fills out its own report. For churches on a charge, only enter the portion of shared expenses (such as the pastor's salary) paid by your church.
Your username is the 6-digit general church number found in parenthesis on your church's apportionment bill. For pastors you will add a p to the end of the 6 digit number. For treasurers/financial secretaries you will add an o to the end of the 6 digit number (letter o, not number zero). Your number might be 321456o, or 321456p.
Your initial password is 12345678. You will be able to reset the password once you login.
A Zoom webinar was held on Jan. 14, 2021, to explain the Statistical Reports. A recording of the webinar is available, as are the materials used.
All 3 Tables should be completed by March 9, 2021. Yes, this is a real deadline, with a real reason for setting it, and we appreciate your courtesy in meeting it.
Line 40 will not auto-total UNLESS you tab through each of the lines. When you tab through 40a and 40b, then 40 will automatically total up.
Line 50 on Table 2 CANNOT BE ENTERED, NOR WILL IT UPDATE AUTOMATICALLY. There is an update function that we will run each morning to update this line. Login a day or two after you complete your report to print out a good copy. If any information for the church or pastor is incorrect please e-mail to Laura Hatcher (laura@sgaumcadmin.com).
COVID-19 has impacted churches in unusual ways. How do you report statistics in such a weird year? Here are two specific recommendations:
ATTENDANCE
Line 7: For 2020, only use the weeks that you had full in-person service.
Line 7a: In 2020, many churches initiated online services using various platforms. See instructions from the platform to determine views that were hits or watches based upon viewing time (the length of time considered a watch may vary by conference).
SPECIAL COVID-19 EXPENSES
Expenses for cleaning supplies etc. will go on normal church operating lines. Expenses for audio-visual or computer equipment to facilitiate online worship should be reported on line 49 as capital expenses (NOT on line 47 as operating expense).
PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM LOANS
Line 27: If the church received a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) as part of the CARES Act that has not been forgiven, include the loan balance here.
Line 54c: Enter the amount received from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) as part of the CARES Act here (whether it's been forgiven or not).
If you downloaded a blank copy of the statistical report to work from, you should know that some of the helpful guidance and explanations on the website does not print with the download. You may want to have the website open, and see what additional clarifications we have posted to help you get it right.
In addition, some of the data we have already imported may not show up. You will want to check the online version for those numbers.
We use the ending membership number on line 4 in calculating your apportionments. Note that lines 2d and 3c allow you to correct your membership record if you have a difference between the number you show and the names you can count.
We use the expenses shown in lines 37-47 in calculating apportionments. Please read the notes carefully, particularly the one on line 47. It is acceptable to report Trustee expenses on line 49 if they are capital expenditures. Don't make an error that could raise your askings needlessly.
If you upgraded to Windows 10, the new Microsoft Edge browser is not working well with Ezra. You can use Internet Explorer, which is also part of Windows 10, or use Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Or, instead of clicking the download link as you normally would, right-click on the link and select "Save As..." Then open the file from where you downloaded it.
You may find many of your question answered in our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).
For questions or further assistance, please call Hope Smith at the Administrative Services Office at 800-535-4224 (if local or using a cell phone, call 478-738-0048) or hope@sgaumcadmin.com. Don't hesitate to contact us. We want your statistical tables to be done correctly, and are certainly willing to assist you!
The Statistical Tables can be filled out at http://ezra.gcfa.org/login.