Dear Lead Pastor, Finance Chairperson and Treasurer,
I know this is a challenging season for our congregations, particularly in the area of finances. We are prepared to support your congregation through this difficult time. Working together, we can lead you through the Covid-19 pandemic.
There is an opportunity for your congregation to receive approximately 20% of your congregation’s annual payroll for part-time and full-time clergy and lay employees through the CARES Act.
The CARES Act provides the Paycheck Protection Program which is a forgivable loan to maintain your present staff for three months: April, May and June. These funds can be a significant help to your congregation, but you must act with a sense of urgency and ensure accuracy.
Urgency is required because if all congregations in the U.S. filed for funding, the total request would be more than $4 trillion. The CARES Act passed by Congress and signed by the president only allocated $350 billion for payroll support. You may submit an application starting this Friday, April 3. The funds will not last long, and we are urging congregations to file on Friday or this weekend.
Completing the application will not be difficult, but you must have the materials needed to file prior to completing the application.
Let us walk you through the process. We are hosting two conference calls on Friday morning – one at 10:30 a.m. and one at 1:30 p.m. We invite you to participate and request no more than four people from each congregation join the call. The following is the call information:
Friday, April 3 at 10:30 a.m.
Dial-in: 1 (646) 876-9923
Meeting ID: 786 404 642
Friday, April 3 at 1:30 p.m.
Dial-in: 1 (646) 876-9923
Meeting ID: 725 035 386
Conference calls will be audio-only and all participants will be muted on entry.
These conference calls will respond to questions about completing the application and how the funds may be used.
The application process is being finalized with banks now, but you should be prepared with the following:
- Your legal church name
- Your TNN (EIN or SSN) number, which is a number provided by the Federal Government for submitting payroll taxes
- Primary address, phone, contact person and contact person’s email address
- Average monthly payroll for calendar year 2019
- Number of jobs
- Purpose of the application (payroll, rent / mortgage interest ,and utilities)
- Year-end Financial Statements 2019
- First Quarter Financial Statements 2020
- Church group ruling letter from GCFA indicating that the church is a 501 (c) (3) organization for loan approval. Information about how to receive this letter is found on our website here.
- Quarterly and final 941s for 2019
- YTD payroll register for 2019 and 2020 to reconcile with 941s
- State quarterly tax returns and final form 927 for 2019
The following payroll items can be included toward your request for CARES Act funding and only these items:
- The current salaries of all full- and part-time clergy and lay employees presently on your staff and will continue through April, May and June.
- The pension benefits of all full- and part-time clergy and lay employees presently on your staff and will continue through April, May and June.
- The health insurance costs of all full- and part-time clergy and lay employees presently on your staff and will continue through April, May and June.
- The employer share of NJ taxes of all full- and part-time clergy and lay employees presently on your staff and will continue through April, May and June
- The cash housing allowance, not parsonage or utilities, of all full- and part-time clergy employees presently on your staff and will continue through April, May and June.
The application process is being set up through individual banks and the funding will be remitted through the bank. We are working to get more clarity on that process and will keep our website updated. It is advisable to call your bank to see if they will be taking applications for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
The District Superintendent and the charge conference must approve your application for this funding. Because of the urgent nature of these funds, we suggest you file first, and we will work with you to set a charge conference if you are approved. It takes two weeks to set and hold a charge conference, and we do not want you to miss out on the funding. There will be separate instructions about how and when to hold this charge conference with a motion for the charge conference.
This is a significant opportunity for our congregations and a way to continue paying the pastors and staff who serve so well all year long.
We are posting information about the loans on our website with frequently asked questions, details on the CARES Act, how to apply and calculators to estimate loan amounts. You can access the information here. We expect this site to be continually updated over the next few days as more information becomes available. You can send your questions to: caresact@gnjumc.org.
This is a significant opportunity for our congregations and a way to continue paying the pastors and staff who serve so well all year long.
Keep the faith!
John
John Schol, Bishop
United Methodists of Greater New Jersey