Ahead of the Curve

Well I have survived my first Advent/Christmas season at Stonebridge UMC.  And to be honest…for the most part it was a wonderful time. I enjoyed the music ministry and the children’s programs.  I was overwhelmed with joy and awe at all the talent on display at the “Aloha Christmas” musical.  And I enjoyed the whole Christmas Eve experience. And even Christmas morning and New Year’s Day worship services were a blessing for me.

 

But the truth be told, what got wearisome for me (and I’m sure for you as well) throughout this past season was my anxiety over trying to meet the year-end budget responsibilities and in particular to pay out our church’s connectional obligations; what we call apportionments. 

 

Every church in the United Methodist connection is allotted through an equitable formula an apportioned missional assessment.  This apportionment for Stonebridge is based on membership and the size of its operational budget.  This past year our apportionment request was for $131,621.  Due to various issues such as the size of our debt payments, our capital overhead, and the economic realities of the day we were only able to pay 80% of our obligation.  This, however, is 20% more than we were able to pay last year.   But we are all let down when we are not able to meet our obligations.

 

The new 2012 Stonebridge UMC Finance Team met for the first time last Tuesday night under the leadership of Keith Knight.  After making a couple of important strategic budgetary decisions; one being renegotiating our building debt payment locking in a favorable rate for the next five years and lowering our monthly payment, plus setting a monthly apportionment allocation, the team began to discuss ways to keep our church financially ahead of the curve throughout the year.

 

The main focus of the discussion centered on trying to enhance the viability of our budget by making the effort to secure more pledge estimates from the congregation.  While our Extravagant Generosity program last October went very well, we actually received less pledge estimates than in years past.  Much of the discussion as to why that might be, centered on the current economic realities causing people to feel uneasy about making any financial commitment.  However, with the New Year beginning it was felt that now might be a good time to re-communicate the need in the church and those church members who have not made their 2012 pledge estimate might be better able to help the church at this time.  So, the Finance Team is initiating this effort soon.

 

It was also discussed that the Finance Team needs to work at keeping the congregation regularly informed as to our church finances.  So, you may be seeing more multi-media displays and presentations keeping us all aware of our week to week stewardship. 

 

I was very encouraged by the proactive energy of our Finance Team.  We all know that staying financially ahead of the curve through the year will better able us to meet our obligations in a timely way and hopefully by the year end, make for a more joyful Advent/Christmas season.  That is my prayer today.