Financial Update October 2022

Dear Church, 

As you are aware, we have been in a challenging financial season. At our community meeting on October 2nd, we saw that our giving was dramatically below budget, and without substantial changes, we would end the year at approximately $40,000 under budget. Simply put, we cannot spend money we do not have, so on October 17th, we prayerfully made a few critical decisions to help us avoid spending beyond our means.

First and most straightforward, we requested to have our “fair share” (denominational dues) reduced by changing to the “current income model.” The standard model bases our fair share on the income from 2 years prior, while the current income model allows those payments to be based on last month’s actual giving. This is our most significant administrative cost besides insurance, so this reduction will save us a few thousand dollars annually.

Second, we have reallocated $14,706.88 from our reserve accounts and placed them in our Emergency savings fund to be ready for use if we cannot pay our bills with our weekly income alone. This comes from the following funds (Special Projects, Youth Group Outreach, Missions Projects, Funeral Dinner, Foodlink, and the Memorial Funds). Families of those who have memorial funds will be contacted before any funds are moved or spent. This will help to create a safety net, but ideally, we aim to avoid using these funds expect as a last-resort

Third, and this is by far the most emotionally difficult, we have decided to end financial support for all of our missionary partners for the time being. This is an annual expense of $22,488. This decision was made with much prayer and discussion over the past few months. That being said, we have a deep love of our missionary partners J.R. and Becky Crouse in Ecuador, Dennis and Kyle Leon in Costa Rica, Gerry McNamara in Eastern Europe, our two sponsored children through International Childcare Ministries, and Lighthouse Station here in Warsaw. So, to maintain our ties, we will be providing opportunities for you to learn about each of these partners, including ways that you could personally give toward them if you feel so moved. Please continue to support these partners in prayer, as they depend on that far more than our money.

Much went into each of these decisions, and you may still have many questions. To that end, we will hold another community meeting on Nov 6, 2022 so that you can ask questions, offer your ideas, and share your words of encouragement. We pray that all of these changes will be temporary adjustments. In the meantime, please remain in prayer, seeking God’s wisdom as we navigate this season and aim toward the future.

Respectfully,
The Board of Administration