On December 20, 2014, churches were sent a letter about a change in United Mission Designations (UMD) as found on the current mission support receipt. The United Mission Designations category is being eliminated, effective with the January 2015 receipts.

This action was voted on by the Covenanting Partners in accordance with the guidelines of our Common Budget Covenant.

Entries that you normally would list under UMD should now be entered under any one of the following categories as your church desires:

• UNITED MISSION BASICS (UMB) – Gifts here support all parts of our national and international mission effort as American Baptists. These gifts are vital and basic to the work of all of our American Baptist family. UMB provides funding for most ministries such as new church planting, evangelism, cooperative Christianity, Christian education for youth, and national and international missions.
• SPECIFICS (SPC) – Gifts are used toward the support of both general and specific projects for all of the National Boards. This includes missionary projects and missionaries. These gifts provide monies beyond the funded dollars for these projects.
• TARGETED GIVING (TG) – Gifts are used to fund Missionaries’ Salaries and the National Boards. These gifts are often the result of an appeal for support. Please note that this change applies only to United Mission Designations.  The elimination of UMD does not affect your church’s ongoing giving or individual’s giving to United Mission (UM).Please direct your questions about this change to your region staff or to Barbara Jarrett, Mission Fund Manager/MRDS Manager, at (610) 768-2145 in the Mission Center in Valley Forge.Thank you.

Click here or click the image below to read the letter from Rev. Leo S. Thorne, Ph.D., Associate General Secretary for Mission Resource Development.