A Financial Update From Scot and Amy

Dear Church Family -
 
As the Executive Director of Operations, one of my responsibilities is to create the yearly budget in conjunction with the finance committee and the elders. I am also charged with cost savings in an effort to steward the church's finances and resources well. As you can imagine, the COVID-19 situation has caused us to pause our normal financial operations and rethink how to move forward during these uncertain times.
 
In mid-March, we were finalizing our budget for the new fiscal year, which started on April 1st. When we went into quarantine and realized that we would not be returning to the church building for a while, we began to look for ways to reduce or eliminate certain expenses. We created a three-month budget challenging the staff to look for ways to reduce spending.
 
I am happy to report that we have taken great steps to reduce our spending while still conducting robust ministry virtually. From an operations standpoint, we have been able to temporarily eliminate some expenses while we are away from the building.  We have also reduced costs in such areas as utilities and operational supplies. Overall, we have reduced costs 22% and anticipate that savings to be even higher by the time we return. Concurrently, we are able to continue paying our staff and supporting our mission partners. Our staff has been working harder than ever to keep our church family connected and to continue caring for your spiritual needs.
 
We are so thankful for your faithful giving during these challenging times. As Scot mentions in his video above, we could not continue doing what we do without your support. We are also thankful for the new givers who have stepped out in faith. It is our goal to maintain open financial conversations with our church during this time and remain transparent in our stewardship of your money.
 
In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Paul admonishes us to “give thanks in all circumstances”. With that command, we give praise, honor, and glory to God for providing for us. We also thank you, our church family, for the support you have given to us during this time away from the building. We miss being together with you and seeing your smiling faces throughout the week. We know we will be together soon and rejoice that we can continue to stay gathered apart!
 
We love you and we cannot wait to be together again!
 
Blessings,
 
Amy Cargle
Executive Director of Operations