Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
We want to share with you some changes to our Financial Results dating back to last year.
At our Annual Congregational Meeting held on January 26 we were presented with a Statement of Income and Expense reflecting a deficit for 2013 of $13,889. This loss was particularly onerous to us all as our offerings for the month of December were the highest ever and we believed were sufficient to move us into a positive result even though we had budgeted for a deficit of $9,750.
We devoted a lot of energy and time to determine what happened. Matching expenditures with appropriate dedicated funds as well as other bookkeeping corrections reduced our loss to $6,524…still a loss but within our projections for the year.
Also at our Annual Meeting, we were presented with a report indicating we had a cumulative deficit since 1992 of $73,000 and with a reported deficit for 2013 of $13,889 we ended the year with a deficit of nearly $87,000. This deficit is actually money that has been “borrowed” from our several dedicated funds, such as our Memorial Fund, SCS Benevolence, or Global Mission.
Again after much energy and time we determined that a more accurate calculation reflects a cumulative deficit of $35,463 at the end of 2013. In simple terms, our General Fund, which includes our offerings and expenditures, is comingled with our dedicated funds. At the end of the year, our Cash on Hand number was $34,116 and our dedicated funds totaled $69,579. We “owed” our dedicated accounts $35,463. This practice did not happen overnight and we will not solve this issue quickly, but it is a far better practice than borrowing funds to meet our obligations.
That brings us to today (or April 30, 2014 if you will). Pastor Carrie’s letter that accompanied your Statement of Contributions through April 30 says it all. We are indeed blessed and we support many areas of need other than our own church body. To put your response to our needs in terms that relate to the preceding paragraph, our Cash on Hand number as of April 30 was $25,592 and our dedicated funds totaled $68,391 so we now owe our dedicated accounts $42,799. This increase in the money we owe ourselves is due to expenditures exceeding our contributions this year. Indeed “winter bills were high at the church, just as they were at our homes”. If you are able to give a little extra over the next several months it would help us help others.
Your servants,
Joel Thoreson, Council President
Fred McCullough, Treasurer
