Giving to your local church has just become easier. United Methodists throughout the United States can now make their church contributions through electronic funds transfers.

The United Methodist Electronic Funds Transfer program allows participants to contribute to their local congregation by means of an authorized, recurring financial transfer directly from their checking or savings account to the church account. The program was sponsored and tested by the denomination's financial agency, the General Council on Finance and Administration, headquartered in Evanston, Ill.

Such fund transfers are familiar to many church members who already use this technology for making recurrent payments for their monthly mortgage, car loans or other regular financial commitments.

The new service will make it easier for United Methodists to honor their pledges, and it will reduce the fluctuation that churches see in contributions during the year, the council says.

Congregations of any size can participate in the program, which is affordable and has no initial set-up fee, according to the agency.

Information about the program is available on the council's Web site, www.gcfa.org.

By Albert H. Lee
chtoday_editor@chtoday.com