Judy, "Self-allocation giving" is what the congregation allocates to give to various external ministries, such as the District, the Camp, the Home, and the denomination. It is called "self-allocation" because the congregation decides for itself what it will give; there is no assessment by these external ministries on the local congregation. A congregation may give more, beyond what it may normally self-allocate. In some Districts it was the case that the District assessed a per member charge; and the congregation was expected to send this amount in each year to the District. The effect of this was that local congregations were more likely to trim their membership rolls in "roll revision." The practice varied by District. In Western Pennsylvania, that has been the system for at least 40 years. (I grew up and was ordained in Western Pennsylvania District). In Northern Indiana (where I am moderator this year), our District depends on essentially self-allocation, but the District suggests that each congregation give 5% of its general budget to the District. Annual Conference is funded by a per member charge paid by the Districts (as well as offerings taken at Conference). Today, most congregations fund themselves through tithes and offerings, though I know of some congregations that assess a yearly per member charge of a percentage of the individual or family's net worth. And some other congregations use fundraisers of various kinds, though often those efforts go to outreach ministries. I think it is on topic, in a sense, for some may read through church minutes or records and wonder what this meant, as you have done. Craig Alan Myers At 05:30 PM 2/11/2011, you wrote: >Could someone tell me what "Self-Allocation Giving" means. How does >"Self-Allocation Giving" work? Is the money listed the amount a >congregation gave? or received?

Thank you, Craig, for your informative reply about how this works today. I've never read the Minutes for any 1900s entries but I recall seeing some 1860-1880 entries with just a person's name and an amount (in change mostly-- something like .5 e.g. point 5 -- would that have been cents?). It didn't seem like there was one set amount for each person -- anywhere from point 1 to point 10. As well, we had wondered why one of my ancestors paid the "road tax" on the "parsonage" (If I recall, the date was in the 1860s or 1870s). According to other Brethren researchers I spoke to in the 1980s, the German Baptists (as they were called then) did not use "Reverend" (Rev'd) or "parsonage", but I saw both in the Minutes. Further, no one could explain why my ancestor paid the road tax. According to a descendant in 1970s, one church in SWPA did have a parsonage very near to the church/graveyard and our ancestor, a Deacon in the church, lived in that house. Supposedly, our ancestor would walk to the church 9so, the house was close) and light the stove before services; he took care of the cemetery and burials (and he and his wife were 2 of the last 3 burials in this graveyard.) But the location of the "parsonage" was forgotten by the time I began my research in the 1980s. And there's still no clear explanation as to why he was responsible to pay the road tax and only that year. It is the only Minutes entry, that I'm aware of, concerning payment of taxes. I don't think it's ever mentioned before or after, for any member. Might this road tax payment have been considered my ancestor's "tithe"? So much was never recorded. What was written often just raises more questions! If anyone has ideas of how I can pinpoint the location of this unknown parsonage, please offer your suggestions. It was not in the church's deeds, nor named in my ancestor's deeds. Being on a rural road, there's no "house number" I could use/follow from tax or census. Again, thank you for explaining how self-allocation works today. If anyone knows more about the ways members contributed financially to their churches in the mid-1800s on, I'd appreciate more information. Judy On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 7:07 PM, Craig Alan Myers < [email protected]> wrote: > Judy, > > "Self-allocation giving" is what the congregation allocates to give > to various external ministries, such as the District, the Camp, the > Home, and the denomination. It is called "self-allocation" because > the congregation decides for itself what it will give; there is no > assessment by these external ministries on the local congregation. A > congregation may give more, beyond what it may normally > self-allocate.<snipped>