12 SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST YEARBOOK, 1977
the support of aged and infirm workers and for
the dependent widows and orphans of workers.
Sec. 2. Divisions outside North America shall
adopt a Sustentation Policy which shall be in har-
mony with the principles set forth in the General
Conference Sustentation Plan.
Article XIX—Appropriations
Sec. 1. The Executive Committee shall make its
appropriations for home and foreign work at the
Annual Councils, said appropriations to be based
on budgets from the fields requiring financial
help.
Sec. 2. Appropriations shall be made subject to
the receipt of the full amount of funds estimated
in the General Conference budget. In case of a
shortage the distribution shall be on a pro rata
basis to all the interests represented in the bud-
get.
Sec. 3. Appropriations for major permanent in-
vestments shall be held in trust for the purpose
for which the appropriation was designated. In
case the project is abandoned, the funds shall re-
vert to the General Conference. Other funds ap-
propriated to division fields shall be administered
y the division committee.
Sec. 4. All funds raised in division fields, except
the regular funds belonging to the General Con-
ference, as indicated under Article XVIII, may be
used for the advancement of the work in the
fields in which they were raised. :
Sec. 5. General Conference funds in all the
world shall be made available to meet the annual
appropriations of the General Conference.
Article XX—Finance
Sec. 1. To tide over a possible financial depres-
sion and to provide a working fund for the regu-
lar operations of the Genera! Conference, the
Treasurer shall carry in cash and in readily con-
vertible securities a working fund equal to 20 per
cent of the regular appropriations voted at the lat-
-est Annual Council, including revertible funds.
Sec. 2. The basis for computing the amount of
the working fund on hand shall be the latest
available financial statement. The working fund
shall not fall below the amount here specified ex-
cept on authorization of an Annual Council of the
Executive Committee.
Sec. 3. The Executive Committee, acting
through its legal agency, the General Conference
Corporation, shall have power to make such an-
nuity contracts as may seem desirable; but all
moneys obtained in this way shall be invested in
securities and not be made available for appropri-
ations until the annuity contracts have matured.
Sec. 4. The tithes and mission offerings re-
ceived by the General Conference shall be held
as a trust for appropriation to the work of the
Seventh-day Adventist denomination. It shall not
be within the prerogative, therefore, of the Gen-
eral Conference Committee, the Treasury, nor of
any agent or agency of the denomination, to loan
these funds to private individuals, to endorse
notes, sign bonds or other securities, or in any
other way to divert the funds of the General Con-
ference from their intended purpose. Advances
specifically authorized under regular policy and
made in order to enable workers to become lo-
cated and equipped for service, are not a viola-
tion of this provision.
Sec. 5. The basis for computing goals and per
capita funds shall be the average of the member-
ship of the four consecutive quarters ending on
September 30 of the preceding year as published
in the General Conference official statistical re-
ports.