The Twelve Days of Christmas

Merry Twelve Days of Christmas! And remember, the 12 days of Christmas are the 12 days following December 25th. The Christmas Season runs until Epiphany, January 6th. 

Have you ever wondered what leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas? 

From 1558 to 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

• The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ
• Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments
• Three French hens stood for faith, hope, and love
• The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
• The five golden rings recalled the Torah or the Law, the first five books of the Old Testament
• The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation
• Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit - Prophecy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy
• The eight maids a-milking were the eight Beatitudes
• Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit - Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control
• The ten lords a-leaping were the Ten Commandments
• The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples
• The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed

5 Year End Tips for Your Facility

Hello,

I thought item #5 and the bonus tip might be of interest to you. 

Grace and Peace,
Barbara Prieto,CA III - Administrative Coordinator
President Florida Region Administrative Personnel Association of the PCUSA

5 Year End Tips for Your Church Facility

Directory for Worship - Part 1

This is Part 1 in a series by David Gambrell, Associate for Worship, in the PCUSA Office of Theology and Worship
Article from the presbyterianleader.com

What is the Directory for Worship?
The PC(USA) Constitution consists of two parts that are usually found in two separate books: the Book of Confessions and the Book of Order. The Book of Order is organized in four sections: Foundations of Presbyterian Polity, the Form of Government, the Directory for Worship, and the Rules of Discipline. 
 
The Directory for Worship provides a theological understanding of worship that is founded on Scripture and rooted in the history and tradition of the church. In contrast to a prayer book or service book, our Directory for Worship provides no liturgical texts, such as prayers or responsive readings. Rather, it seeks to articulate the principles and practices underlying faithful worship in the Reformed tradition. The Directory for Worship allows for a certain degree of freedom within form—not prescribing fixed prayers but offering broader guidelines. Worship leaders are wise to use the Directory for Worship and the Book of Common Worship together, like a compass and a map; the former points to general principles and primary things, while the latter offers specific directions for particular services.

Celebrate your Admin Staff

During this most joyous time of year, we celebrate the birth of Christ.  It is during this time that we affirm how blessed we are to be able to serve Him in our ministry.

Your administrative staff also feels blessed to serve Him as well.  They feel “called” to their ministry of support to your office.  Their willingness to lend a compassionate ear to those who need compassion, their eagerness to serve everyone they come in contact with and their enthusiasm for their jobs in Christ’s Church make them ambassadors for Christ’s Kingdom.

Make sure to acknowledge your administrative staff’s ministry by encouraging them to join the Administrative Personnel Association of the Presbyterian Church (USA).  Better yet, make sure to pay their membership dues ($75) and conference attendance fees (approximately $500) out of your budget.  This small investment will help validate to them that their ministry to your organization is valued.  Membership applications are available on the Florida Region’s website at www.floridaapa.org.  

Find out how your administrative staff’s membership in the APA can benefit them, you and your organization, by contacting Barbara Prieto, Florida Region President, at 305-666-8586 or rivierachurch@bellsouth.net.

Nancy Fine
Membership Chair, Florida Region of the Administrative Personnel Association of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
www.floridaapa.org

Message of Thanksgiving

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Dear APA Sisters,

I wanted to take a moment to wish you and your loved ones a very, Happy Thanksgiving!  I am blessed to have each of you in my life, you are the sisters I never had.  I see some of you more often, I see some of you once or twice a year, I even only get to see some of you every couple of years, but yet when we come together its like we just saw each other yesterday.  That is very special in my book!

I am looking forward to the next several months as the planning goes into full gear for our Regional Conference in May 2012 where I will pass on the gavel to the very capable hands of Allyson Criminger. 

Many blessings to you and yours,

Barbara Prieto
Florida APA Region President

Are Thank You Gifts Taxable?

from Church Finance Today

Richard R. Hammar

With the holidays in view, many church leaders take advantage of the opportunity to thank church staff and volunteers through public recognition and gifts. 

Taxable income does not include any "de minimis fringe benefit." Section 132(e)(1) of the tax code defines such a benefit as "any property or service the value of which is so small as to make accounting for it unreasonable or administratively impracticable." Cash can never be a de minimis fringe benefit since it is not "unreasonable or administratively impracticable" to account for its value. The same conclusion applies to "cash equivalents," such as gift coupons and certificates, even though the property acquired with a coupon or certificate would have been a nontaxable de minimis fringe benefit had it been provided by the employer.

The income tax regulations provide several examples of de minimis fringe benefits. They include "occasional typing of personal letters by a company secretary; occasional personal use of an employer's copying machine; group meals, or picnics for employees and their guests; traditional birthday or holiday gifts of property (not cash) with a low fair market value; occasional theater or sporting event tickets; coffee, donuts, and soft drinks; local telephone calls; and flowers, fruit, books, or similar property provided to employees under special circumstances (e.g., on account of illness, outstanding performance, or family crisis)." Similarly, a congressional committee report listed "traditional gifts on holidays of tangible personal property having a low fair market value (e.g., a turkey given for the year-end holidays)" as examples of de minimis fringe benefits.

The IRS has noted that "it is not administratively impracticable to account for even a small amount of cash provided to an employee because the value of the amount provided is readily apparent and certain. Accordingly … accounting for cash or cash equivalent fringe benefits such as gift certificates is never considered administratively impracticable."

In conclusion, the turkeys and fruit baskets that your church provides to volunteers are nontaxable de minimis fringe benefits that need not be reported as taxable income by the volunteers. The cash and gift certificates the church provides to employees do not qualify as de minimis fringe benefits, and must be reported as taxable income on the employees' W-2 forms.

The cash and gift certificates the church provides to volunteers do not qualify as de minimis fringe benefits, and so they constitute a taxable benefit. However, since the volunteers are not employees, the church is not required to report the amount of these gifts on a W-2 form. No Form 1099 is required either, assuming that the volunteers do not receive compensation of $600 or more during the year. It will be up to the volunteers themselves to decide how to handle the certificates for tax purposes.

Many churches treat the staff to a holiday lunch or dinner at a local restaurant. According to the income tax regulations, the value of these meals ordinarily would be a nontaxable de minimis fringe benefit. The regulations give several examples of de minimis fringe benefits, including "group meals, or picnics for employees and their guests."

This article originally appeared in the December issue of Church Treasurer Alert, 2007.

How Do Employment Discrimination Laws Apply to Churches?

ChurchLawAndTax.com features two separate free articles related to one common question—how do employment discrimination laws apply to churches? As you might guess, the answer is complex.

In Pastor, Church & Law, Volume 3: Employment Law, Richard Hammar writes:

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers engaged in commerce and having at least 15 employees from discriminating in any employment decision on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, or religion. Religious organizations are exempt from the ban on religious discrimination, but not from the other prohibited forms of discrimination.

Numerous employment lawsuits involving churches and those "other prohibited forms of discrimination" have erupted throughout the years. It's essential every church understand the circumstances surrounding these cases—and the outcomes. Such understanding may help a church prevent a potential legal vulnerability; more importantly, careful planning now helps churches establish best practices protecting the church while respecting every employee.

This week, read about one woman who sued a church for age discrimination after it fired her. 

So, what do YOU think?

A Time for Thanksgiving

November is a time of thanksgiving.  We spend this time thinking about those things in our lives that we are thankful for; be it family, friends, colleagues and God.  But are we showing our administrative staff how thankful we are for everything that they do for our church?

Show your administrative staff how grateful you are for everything they do for you, your staff and your members.  Make sure to include in your 2012 budget the membership fees for them to join the Administrative Personnel Association of the Presbyterian Church (USA) as well as continuing education funds to attend APA conferences.  For a small fee ($75 for the membership dues and approximately $500 to attend a conference), they can become part of this great organization, recognized in the Book of Order G-2.1101 – G-2.1102.  The Presbytery affirms the skills and dedication of these certified lay employees by providing recognition at Presbytery at the time of their certification and by inviting these employees to Presbytery meetings, granting them the privilege of the floor.

By attending APA conferences, your administrative staff will improve the quality of professionalism in the offices that are usually the first points of contact with congregations, governing bodies and agencies of the Presbyterian Church (USA).  They will learn the importance of efficient office procedures and develop a deeper commitment and understanding of the issues, policy, history and theology of our church.

For more information about the APA and how it will benefit your administrative staff, contact Barbara Prieto, Florida Region President, at 305-666-8586 or rivierachurch@bellsouth.net.

Nancy Fine

Membership Chair, Florida Region of the Administrative Personnel Association of the Presbyterian Church (USA)

www.floridaapa.org

Florida Team Heads to Nationals in Vegas

POSTED by Debbie Burleigh, Certification Chair

I’m proud to say we have 9 from the Florida Region attending the National Conference next week in Las Vegas.  Please keep them in your prayers:  Yolanda Bengo, Debbie Burleigh, Allyson Criminger, Deffie Drexler, Nancy Fine, Shari Lowe, Pam Mills, Kerri Nichols and Barb Prieto.  Those of you that attended our FL Regional may remember Yzette who joined us from the Presbytery of New York City – she’ll be at Nationals as well.  Deffie, Pam, and Debbie will receive their Level III certificates/pins and Barb will have 50 hours of Continuing Ed – way to go girls!  Viva Las Vegas!