Minister's Column On June 6 the congregation will have an opportunity to approve the church budget for the coming year, prepared with the input of many church committees and recommended by the Board of Trustees. We will be approving a one-year budget, but the larger work of all involved has been to create next year’s budget as the first step in a new vision for the church that we will reach several years from now. The goal is to create a “Right-size” church: a church with ambitious programming that excites our members and gives our church a clear and important reason to exist; and also, a church where our annual expenses fit comfortably within a reasonable expectation of our annual income. A “Right-size” church can’t be too small or we won’t have the kind of meaningful presence that makes people want to be part of the church. And a “Right-size” church can’t be too large, or we will end up burning through our savings account. I believe the “Right-size” for our church is a budget of about $320,000. I think that’s a reasonable guess of the income we can expect to generate from a larger congregation, and increased rentals and other income sources. And a budget of about $320,000 allows us to pay the staff and maintain the building and put on the programs that we must offer in order to have a satisfying, meaningful, church experience. $320,000 is about $90,000 larger than our current budget, so the 10-year plan is to use some of the Dudish and Mercy Housing money we will receive next year to grow our church over the next few years to the “Right-size.” That means we will have deficit budgets for the next few years, but smaller and smaller deficits each year, until about 10 years from now the budget balances at about $320,000.
During the 10-years we will be able to track our progress and make any necessary
adjustments. And if at some point during the 10 years it becomes clear
that our goals were unrealistic, we can stop and re-think what “right-size”
means for us. This is the beginning of a long journey. I’m excited about
the prospect of walking this journey with
you. Rev. Ricky Hoyt posted on 6/3/2010 |
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