Sunday
Morning Moment for Stewardship
July 12, 2009
We have been talking all year about stewardship and contributions of TIME
and TALENT. This is as it
should be because that contribution forms the backbone of our church.
Many of you attended the “Volunteer Appreciation Lunch” sponsored
by the Stewardship committee and the Nurture Committee where we had a
really long list of those contributions.
This sharing of time and talent is essential to our being the kind
of church that we are now and that we are becoming.
---- We also have to
pay the bills.
So I want to talk about money this morning.
We will have a pledge campaign this fall and ask each of you to
pledge a portion of what you have to support the ministry of this church.
There are a lot of ways to think of what a pledge means to you:For
some:
-
It is just
a planning tool for the session when trying to come up with a budget.
-
It’s the
tithe that counts and represents a solid commitment to fulfill the
word of God.
-
A
percentage increase of 1% or 2 %compared to last years pledge
represents a solid commitment to the growth our church.
And you could add to this list.
So how are we doing so far with the budget for 2009?
Peggy
Winkleman prepares a monthly statement for the session (about 10 pages of
very fine print) and this is available to anyone who wants that level of
detail. Here are some figures for the end of May. The June statement will
be ready this July 22.
-
Income in
May was $24754
-
Expenses
in May were $19745
-
For a gain
of $5009 (Expenses Vs. Income) But of course expenses aren’t exactly
the same every month
-
YTD Income
$131353
-
YTD
Expenses $105027
-
Net
Difference of $26325 which looks VERY good.However, we
had a very special contribution of $20,000 of estate money that was
unexpected and can’t be expected next year.
Therefore, our budget status without the special gift would be
$6235. Still a POSITIVE
number. But this isn’t the whole story by a long shot.
When special projects come up – you guys respond!
The playground work is a good example:
Contributions from the Presbyterian Women, The Opal Monroe
Memorial fund, from Holly King and Parents Day Out have totaled enough
to pay for all of the improvements (I Think!) without dipping into the
churches general funds.
We have collected (as of May) 43 % of the pledges and with 42% of the year
gone – we are on schedule.
So what
does the church need money for anyway? Charlie Bradbury talked about that
some last month – we have to not only pay the bills, but also tackle the
bigger things like people in need and spreading the word.
“ To know Christ and to make Him known”
Also from our
mission statement: “We
envision a community that studies, teaches, and preaches the good news,
prays for and encourages one another in faith, and shares one another’s
burdens.”
We are doing
OK. Remember what Ken said -
“You are loved by God and therefore you are free to love, help and serve
others”
Begin to think
about your pledge for next year.
