With our
church now fully engaged in the new program year, I hope that we have a feeling
of excitement as we build on the past to move forward toward our shared vision
of bringing God’s love to all the world. This past year, we have indeed been
blessed to be a blessing to others. Just some of these blessings are
highlighted on the screen. With Chris settling into his new role here, we have
the potential to provide further inspiration and support for additional
ministries that can reach even more members of our congregation, the community,
and the world.
But for these
new ministries to be achieved, we will need your participation, talents, and
resources. Certainly, we also hope our membership will grow as others choose to
join us in our journey. Unfortunately, Fairport United Methodist Church may be
one of the best kept secrets in town. We need to be intentional about letting
the community know that our church is a vibrant and active force for God and for
good in this area, and that we host and sponsor a wide variety of ministries
that support individual spiritual goals as well as community needs. One of our organizational challenges this
year is to have a more coordinated communications effort to inform the
community about programs; however, as individuals, I would encourage all of us to
share with others the many activities and ministries of this Fairport church. Encourage
others to explore opportunities of interest here. And please, consider where
you yourself may help fill vital roles in our ministry.
As we strive
to achieve our vision, to live out God’s dream in and beyond these walls, we
are experiencing a time of transition. While both exciting and challenging, we
as a congregation need to seek both stability of purpose and stability in our
financial affairs. As you may recall, we moved forward with the addition of a second
full time pastor even though we did not have the pledged financial commitments
to fully fund all current programs and a second pastor. Thus, we are operating
under a deficit budget and will likely have a year-end deficit of over $20,000.
In the short term, our excess Fund Balance from prior years has enabled us to
move forward and handle this projected deficit, but we will need to increase
church revenue if we are to maintain the two - full time pastor model for the
longer-term. The Finance Ministry team is taking steps in the short-term to
conserve cash to ensure we have sufficient funds on hand to meet our operating
expenses for the rest of this year. One of the consequences will be that for
the first time in many years, our church will not be able to meet its full apportionment
obligations to the Conference in 2014.
For 2015, we
will need to increase our revenue by around $40,000 in order to balance the
budget and meet all of our expected obligations. While there are certainly a
variety of ways we can potentially increase our revenue, our 2015 pledge
campaign will be especially critical this year. We ask that you prayerfully consider
how you can invest in our vision and in our future with both your talents and
your resources. Information regarding opportunities in both these areas will be
forthcoming soon. For example, the Finance Ministry team hopes to make donating
easier with options for use of credit cards in addition to electronic funds
transfer, stock donations, checks, and cash.
In the
upcoming weeks, we will let you know about new efforts and plans for changes to
help us achieve God’s vision for the Fairport United Methodist Church and the
financial stability necessary to maintain and expand our programs. So, on
behalf of the Stewardship and Financial Ministries, I encourage all of us to
consider what additional talents and resources we could potentially contribute
for 2015. While we do face financial challenges, together we can move forward
and be an even greater force for God and for good.
Thank
you.
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