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Statistician's Corner
The statistician's report for 2014 is available to view
Instructions for Using EZRA
Every church must recreate your log-in, even if you used EZRA last year. All log-ins have been reset to accommodate changes in appointments as well as church staff changes and I would appreciate it if you get this done by Dec. 31 (but earlier is better, it tells us you are there and reading the mail). There are communication reasons for this in that it allows us to send registered users notes on statistics, and not have to hope we can reach people through blast messages.
How to Get Started
The General Council of Finance and Administration Data Base is ready to be accessed: EZRA
Your log-in USER ID is your GCFA Number. A PDF in alpha order by District of your GCFA number can be viewed by clicking here.
Your initial password is rmcstats2014
Once you log-in the first time, you will be taken to a screen that allows you to set a new password. PLEASE DO TYPE IN AN EMAIL ADDRESS. That will be helpful to you should you forget your password. I no longer have visibility of passwords and cannot tell you your password should you forget it. I can reset, but the “Forgot Password” will work if you will place your email address in the appropriate location during initial log-in. I do not share your email with anyone. If I encounter a blank email for a church, I will use the Journal to add the Pastor’s email address.
You are now registered with my thanks.
All of the GCFA download of appointment information has been completed. (Note: The appointment data gets to GCFA from the District Offices in a report they submit during the Summer. Changing the data in EZRA does not cause it to automatically flow back up to Nashville.) As a practical matter, our Journal information on appointments is not generated from this database, so errors here do not percolate over into other RMC data bases.
Requested time tables:
As I mentioned above, please log on to EZRA and establish an account no later than Dec. 31, 2014. Failing to do this means Local Church users misses updates, and we have to repeat information that has already been shared with others. Again, I would be most appreciative if all churches could please take the five minutes to get this task accomplished. Thank you.
Please plan to be finished with your statistics by Jan. 31, 2015, if at all possible. Will I grant Grace for an emergency? Of course, but timely registration in the system helps get a dialogue going so that I know what is happening with you.
Quick Additional Thoughts:
Responsibility: Please Note: Senior Pastors may delegate the authority to complete the stats to another person, but they are responsible for data accuracy and mission accomplishment.
Manual Input: Churches perceiving a need to use manual entry and not use EZRA must be approved by your DS in consultation with me. EZRA is assumed to be the data entry point unless prior approval is granted from both your DS and the RMC Statistician.
Notify the responsible agent: If you are reading the RMC News and are not the person responsible for statistics at your local church if you would be so kind so to call this news item to the attention of the responsible person at that local church, I would be most appreciative. Thank you.
Please, all money is whole dollars: Ezra is only looking for money accuracy to the dollar. You do not need to put in numbers to the right of the decimal.
Your income should approximately equal the income you report monthly to the RMC in the tithe report: The income shown in Lines 62, 63 and 64 should roughly equal the sum of the total income your church reported to the RMC. Send me a note at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you have questions here. But if your church reported $100,000 in total Gross Income to the RMC, then the sum of Lines 62, 63 and 64 (all three lines added together into one number) should equal about $100,000. Significant deviations from that do prompt questions. Send me a note if you have questions.
FAQ (FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS) THAT MIGHT BE HELPFUL IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM
What is my GCFA number? Click here for the list. The list is organized by district. Note: Northeast Colorado is still officially in the WYNECO district.
I can’t log on! Send me a note at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and I will send you instructions or log on for you the first time. Give me a clue what church you are talking about, please. There are multiple Firsts, and Trinitys ... Thanks!
Dennis: You just sent me a note saying submit my data, I have saved it, what do you want? Saving the data entered on each of the three tables does not submit the data. Once you are satisfied with the data, select "Submit Stats Process" from the Home menu and follow the directions to finally submit the data. If you've have submitted the data, selecting "Submit Stats Process" will say, "Your statistical information has been submitted."
I am having trouble getting all three tables completed at one sitting, what do I do? Remember, clicking on the Save button on each table does not submit the data. Save as you go. You can change entries up to the time you submit the completed tables using the Submit Stats Process option.
What’s wrong with my addition? EZRA has, in my opinion, been improved to show some of the running totals for you. It used to just say your number was wrong, figure it out. That said, it will not allow you to submit (different than save) if your numbers don’t cross check. It will tell you where the error is.
May we have a second user and password at our church? Yes, it is an option on your home screen for your church.
Can I have a different user name than the GCFA number? Yes.
A PARTING COMMENT
A LOT of Table II data will be done by the Conference Treasurers Office. Fill in what is there, and know that the Treasurer’s Office will do the rest based on Treasurer’s Office data. The rest is Apportionment, Health, Retirement for Pastor, and Special Sundays.
Grace and Peace,
Dennis Shaw
Statistician
Rocky Mountain Annual Conference