Dear Friends,
One of the principal tasks of the church during any kind of transitional period is to take stock of itself, to review its current condition and evaluate what things might need to be updated in practice. One such thing in need of review is the financial condition of the church, which means bringing up everyone’s least favorite subject: money.
From our treasurer Gayle Holum and finance committee moderator Fritz Menning, I relay the following information:
“This (upcoming year) year will be the church’s first fiscal year after Covid. Prior to Covid our pledges constituted a robust 75% ($160,000) of the entire $210,000 budget. This year’s actual budget is $202,000 with $129,000 pledged, a 16% decrease in pledges. Compounding this shortfall, and no doubt contributing to it, is the fact that our membership and active participation has decreased significantly.”
I claim no financial genius, but that is a notable drop, and there are numerous factors that have contributed to that drop. I am less concerned with the reasons for that drop than with what the church will do about it going forward.
With that in mind, a few observations:
1) Are there ways to increase the church’s giving to help reduce that gap between pledges and budget? What might remind folks of the need to support the church’s financial resources? Do we need to find more or better ways of communicating this need?
2) Are there folks whose giving might have dropped or stopped, and how can we encourage them to get back to giving (without shaming anybody)? Nobody needs to be embarrassed over these things, but is there some gentle way to encourage folks to pledge that support if they’ve let it slide the past few years?
3) Might we need to take other steps to meet some of the current or future needs of the church? I don’t know anybody who gets a great thrill out of capital campaigns, but might something of that type be necessary to get the church’s financial situation more in balance?
4) Are there some things that just need to be cut? Are there any budget things that don’t really relate to the church and where it is now? Are some budget items obsolete? What needs to be updated, reduced, or maybe even eliminated?
Of course, once you start to look at a thing like this, it doesn’t take long for other questions about the church and its work to come along. A budget isn’t an abstract thing; it reflects the priorities and activities of the church. Budgets have consequences, and the church’s choice of what to do and who to be will show up in the budget at some point.
In short, now is the time to take an in-depth look at the budget, not just for making up for any one particular shortfall but to be prepared for where this church is going to go and what this church is going to be for years to come.
Charles