Dear Friends:

The time has come to file the 2011 Local Church Report to the Annual Conference. Since 2008 The Alabama – West Florida Conference has collected year end statistics electronically and we will follow that practice again this year.

We will again use the General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA) Statistical Input System. The username and passwords will be the same as last year. If you don’t have that information, contact your district office.

The system may ask you to create a new password, you may if the wish, however, if you don’t, just reenter the password as if it was new, confirm it and then select “finished.”

The format of the report has not changed. The left hand column of the form lists the information you reported last year. This is for comparison only. You will not be able to change any 2010 figures. If you have correction to the data reported in 2010, please call Frank Dunnewind , 888-873-31127.

You may access your report in two ways:

1. This link will log you directly to Log In page of the UMC GCFA Statistical Input System: http://eagle.gcfa.org/Login.aspx

2. Go to the conference web site: www.awfumc.org

a. There is a link box titled 2011 Local Church Report on the left hand side of the page just below the Features section. It will also take you to the Log In page of the UMC GCFA Statistical Input System

3. Log in with your user name and password (the same one you used last year to report statistical data.)

First Log In:

When you log in for the first time, enter the username and password . When you click on the “Log In” button you will be directed to a “User Information” page where you will be asked to fill in some information about yourself. Please make sure you enter a valid email address.

1. The First and Last name fields are required. This will be used in several locations for identification purposes.

2. The Username will be filled in with the username you entered when you logged in. You can change this if you wish. The only requirement is that this user name is unique throughout the denomination. So try and pick something that may not already be taken. You will be notified by an error message if you need to choose another username.

3. The Password field will be empty. You are required to enter a password. The requirements on the password are that it must be at least 6 characters long and contain letters and/or numbers only.

4. The Home Phone, Work Phone, and Email will be empty. These fields can be useful to the conference if they need to contact you. (Especially the work phone and email address) If you provide an email address to the system it will be able to email you your password if you forget it. This can be done only if you remember your username and you provide an email address. If either of these conditions is not met, you will have to contact either the district office or the conference office to get your login information.

5. The Type, District, and Church lists refer to the type of user that you are and the church and district that you have permissions to. These options will already be filled in and you will have no other options to choose from.

Once all the information has been filled in, click on “Update”. This will update your information in the system and a message will be generated on the screen reminding you of your username and password. Close this message and click on the “Exit” button on the bottom of the screen. You will be taken back to the login screen. You must login using your new username and password.

Entering the System:

Now when you log in you will be taken to the Main Menu. This menu has several parts:

1. The “Add/Edit Church” and “Add/Edit Pastor” areas will show you the information about your church and the pastor assigned to your church at the end of the statistical year. If any of this information is incorrect, please contact your conference office so they can update it.

2. The “Add/Edit Tables” is where you will go to enter the statistical information for the year. Each table can be accessed from here or from the other tables.

3. The “Reports” area is where you will be able to print reports on your Church Statistical Information.

4. The “Administration” area is where you can change your password if you like, or you can view your conference information such as a person to contact and how to contact them.

5. The “Submit Stats Process” is where you will go when you are finished entering all data for Table I, II, & III.

Entering Statistical Data:

Before you start entering your statistical information, you may want a Blank Copy of the tables so you can fill in all the blanks and verify that the information is correct. To do this, go to the “Reports” option from the main menu and click on “Blank Church Input Form”. When this page loads, select the tables that you want to print and then click on “Run Report”. An Adobe Acrobat page will load and your report will be shown. Just print that form and you have a blank copy. Close that window and click on “Home” to return to the Main Menu.

If you are ready to start entering your data, click on “Add/Edit Tables”. Near the top of the screen on the right, just above your name, you will see a “Help” link. Clicking on this will open a help window. A picture of the form will appear, just click on the number of the item that you need help with and you will be given some information about that area of the form. You can close that window when you are done.

Back on the “Add/Edit Tables form, in the center near the top, you will see a message that tells you when the conference expects all your data entry to be complete. Below that you should see your church name along with your General Church Number in a list box. If used, you should also see your local church number in the middle field. And on the far right, you will see your General Church Number listed again. Below these fields you will see the table entry form. This grid has five columns:

1. “Field” is the row number.

2. “Description” is an explanation of the field.

3. “Previous Year” is the value for this field that was entered last year.

4. “Current Value” is the value for this field for this year. By default the value is “0”. This is the column in which you will enter your statistical information for the year. Just click in the box and enter the number. You can also use the “Tab” key to move between boxes. Only numbers can be entered into these fields. No symbols or letters will be accepted.

The only field that will not have a “0” in it will be line 1. This is getting filled in automatically from the value listed in “Total Professing Members at Close of This Year” under the column for “Previous Year”.

5. The last column is a “?”. If you click on the “?” a message will appear that are the directions for the row that you clicked on.

Saving Your Information:

When you are done with entering the information for this table, click on the “Save” button at the top or at the bottom and an attempt to save this information will be made. You can save your information at any time and come back later to finish.

However, during the “save” process, the system will perform validations that your conference has set up. For example: the total male members + the total female members must equal the total professing members at close of this year. If any of these validations do not pass, then your information will NOT be saved. You will be notified that your information was not saved and a list will appear on the screen. The validation failures are listed as “Errors”. Another possible message you may receive is that you have “Warnings”. These are also set up by the conference. These are just notifications to you that something may be off with your data. These warnings conduct an evaluation of the new data compared to the previous values. If something is way off, you will be given a warning. Your information will be saved, but check these warnings just in case you entered something incorrectly.

Submitting Your Information:

Continue the “save” process for all three tables until you get no errors. Once you are finished entering all of your data, go to the “Main Menu” and click on “Submit Stats Process”. This will take you to the page that allows you to submit your information to the conference. Read this page carefully. Once you submit your information, you will be lock out of any editing in your tables. If a mistake is make, your conference can “Un-submit” you if needed.

Printing a Copy of Your Tables:

Once your information has been submitted, you may need a copy for your records. This can be done two different ways.

1. Go the “Reports” and click on “Church Stats Report”. Select the table or tables you wish to print and click on “Run Report”. An Adobe Acrobat page will load and your report will be shown. Just print these pages and you will have a copy for your records.

2. When you are on the “Add/Edit Tables” form, you can click on “Print”. An Adobe Acrobat page will load with your table report.

Reviewing Your Statistical Data:

You can view your statistical information any time you wish. When you submit your data, it does not go away. You will always have the ability to view it. On the “Reports” menu there are several options. One of the most useful is the “Stats Spread Sheet”. Using the selections on this page, you will be able to down load your information in a Microsoft Excel Spread Sheet. Any changes to you make to the spreadsheet, will not affect the data in the system.

MORE INFORMATION:

1. Instructions for each question on Table I, Table II and Table 3 are available by moving your cursor to the question number. You may also print instructions for Table I and Table II from the church dashboard. Finally, you can download and print all the instructions from the report page.

2. Please be sure to report the membership statistics on line 9a through 9i. Also line 9j and 9k require a breakout of membership statistics by gender. These lines will auto total and must match the total in line 9.

3. Do not include apportionments or funds sent to the Conference Treasurer anywhere on the report. Those figures are already available and will be recorded from receipts by the Treasurer.

4. NOTE: Lines 51 and 52 are new lines this year. Payments were mailed to Benefits Development Group and not the conference, so we do not have this information and the church should report data on one or both lines.

5. Report money in whole dollars. Do not report cents.

6. When there is nothing to report for a line item, enter "0."

7. Print a copy for your records.

8. DOUBLE CHECK YOUR ENTRIES

9. Lines 51 through 62 record your financial strength for determining 2013 Missional Giving amounts.

The reporting system will be turned on January 5, 2012. Reports should be completed and submitted by January 31, 2012.

I appreciate your cooperation. If you have any questions, please call me at 1-888-873-3127. I will be happy to assist you.

Sincerely,

Frank S. Dunnewind