For the past three years, the church has ended the year financially with a surplus, which has been paying down a deficit from 2012 each year. The original deficit in 2012 was about $70,000. We entered 2015 with about $25,000 left in that deficit. Since we finished the year well in 2015, we have eradicated the remaining deficit!
At the end of 2015, we had a surplus of about $46,800 for which we are immensely grateful. We certainly celebrate this news and offer our thanksgiving to the congregation. Once the surplus of $46,800 was applied to our remaining deficit of about $25,000, we were left with a surplus of about $21,800 from 2015.
We have much to celebrate! We can turn to one another and say, “thank you,” for each other’s devotion and commitment. In addition, we are also grateful for this financial news, as we filled the last open position on the ministerial staff beginning this year 2016.
Since we finished 2015 with such good news, we are also grateful to take some other steps forward on a particular project from that positive starting point. Right before the end of 2015, we discovered that the ceiling in the Sanctuary must be repaired. Due to the normal passing of time, the boards of the ceiling are starting to bend away from the rafters and must be replaced. They were installed about forty years ago.
The Trustees have solicited two different estimates for the cost of this project from reputable companies. The Stewardship Committee, Deacons, and the congregation at its January Business Meeting have discussed and voted on this project. The general estimated cost of this project is around $150,000. The church will need to repair the ceiling in the upcoming months, and once those dates are set, the congregation will be notified, along with any information on the effect it might have on the church’s weekly schedule.
The congregation has decided to raise this money through a focused capital campaign over and above the church’s budget for 2016-2017. The church has also decided to include an additional $150,000 in this campaign, which is the amount the church borrowed from its Trust Funds during the recent Renovation and Renewal Project several years ago.
We begin this campaign with the surplus of about $21,800 from 2015, along with about $39,000, which was not spent from the recent Renovation and Renewal Project, but earmarked for renovations in the Mary Jim Coleman Trust Fund. The total amount of the campaign will be $300,000, but we already have about $60,800 towards our goal. The Stewardship Committee will send out further details about this renovation in the Sanctuary and the upcoming capital campaign, as we continue to bolster our financial health and preserve the beauty and acoustics of our Sanctuary.
~Tripp