Strengthening Our Church Together
Dear First Pres Family,
Grace and peace to you in the name of the one who loves us and provides for us!
Advent is such a great time of the year, as we learn again to watch and wait for the coming of the Messiah. Christmas is coming, but first we remember how to live in expectation for Christ’s arrival—a little longing is good for all of us.
This season also has us paying attention to the business of the church.
We’re coming close to the end of the year, and as we look at our numbers we have some very specific gaps we’re hoping to close. Here are the details.
Over the past year we’ve very carefully strengthened our facilities and our team in order to accomplish ministries and meet the needs of our congregation. For example, it has been such a blessing to have Gregory Riley as our organist and accompanist—I think you’ll all agree that he helps to make our Sunday worship beautiful and meaningful. We’ve also improved our technologies and tried to keep up with the repairs of our aging facility. Getting the heat working again a few weeks ago was important…but unexpected.
Some of this we planned for, and other parts not so much.
Our church bylaws allow us to dip into reserves to cover these extra costs, but only within certain limits. At this point we’re going to be about $23,000 over that limit at the end of this year. The good news is that we have the money. The less-than-good news is that digging too deeply into those reserve funds leaves us exposed if there is an emergency or some other unexpected repairs come up.
And so yes, I’m writing to ask if we can all share some of this cost.
If we can pool that $23,000 together from new giving, we can protect our reserves and move into 2025 in a much healthier position. There are so many good things happening here, but we’re not immune from the challenges that face other downtown churches around the country. Keeping our reserve account health is a wise and faithful way to manage our resources, and help our church stay healthy and nimble for the coming year.
Thanks for considering this extra support!
Blessings to you and yours this Advent season,
Pastor John