Declaring & Teaching – Jesus is Lord !
Philippians 4:10-14 – God’s Provisions
“I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my difficulty.”
By the Grace of God
We have been blessed with many gifts and with those gifts comes responsibility to manage them to God’s Glory. Not sure there is much new that I can say on this subject that was not covered in my report to the Voters in June. Suffice it to say, we received $87,353 in “Other” donations or income this past fiscal year that was beyond the regular giving to the church. A significant portion of these funds were given to special funds or purposes which end up as Liabilities on our balance sheet. That means the money can only be spent for the purpose it was given and is not available for regular expenses.
The council has been working on our budget and we were having difficulty creating a balanced budget because we have so many people giving to these restricted funds rather than the general fund. This is part of the cause of the deficit in our budget between our giving and our expenses. The general fund is where the unrestricted donations go and is what is used to pay our bills and support the ministries of the church. Without sufficient donations to the general fund, the other donations are not useful if we are not properly funding the operations of the church.
My report identified that the church council has an obligation to establish the projects and funds that the church will support. The council voted in June to support only two (2) funds at this time. The Family Care Fund and the Mission Festival Fund. For the foreseeable future we will not be accepting donations to any other funds. All other donations are being directed to the general fund of the church. We are suspending receiving donations to the Building Fund and all other previously established funds until our current budget deficit has been resolved.
We are aware that change is hard and that people like to give to specific things that they support. We pray the Spirit leads you to continue to support the church through regular donations all to His Glory
Blessings,
Tim Grace