Financial Update from the elders

Dear Church Family,
 

We’re writing to provide a financial update and to let you know how we hope to navigate this current season.

You may have noticed that in recent months we have had a larger shortfall than we normally have at this time of year. At present this shortfall is $225,000 after six months. 

How did we get here? Much of the shortfall has been due to expenses in the first half of the year. This included the cost of McGowan Global to assist with our pastor search process.

You might recall that Scott Stinson was slated to be a Pastoral Resident, which would come with partial funding. However, we opted out of the program as we assessed long term costs and benefits. This decision enabled us to retain Scott long term as an assistant pastor.

We also provided extended severance for Brian Lum Shue Chan, as part of our care for him as well as the normal severance for a senior pastor. 

How are we covering our expenses? Thanks to God’s grace, some forward thinking, and your generosity, we have maintained a strong safety net for just this type of situation. As a result, we have never gone into debt, and we have continued to pay our staff, support our missionaries, and pay our vendors, including rent for worship space.

Are we making wise budget cuts? Yes, we know that our expenses have been exceeding the level of giving, and this is not sustainable. While we don’t have much “fat” in our budget, the staff have made department cuts for the rest of this year to the tune of $46,000. In addition, we are moving to a traditional 2-pastor model for our size church, a senior pastor and assistant pastor. In light of Erik Rome’s transition, Scott Stinson will step in as our #2.  

How do we strengthen our financial position for the future? Our prayer is that we can greatly reduce the shortfall in the short term through (1) the aforementioned cuts and (2) increased congregational giving. From past experience, it’s not unusual for us to have a mid-year call to generosity. One encouraging note is that our giving has exceeded last year’s giving for the most recent two months. And we trust that many in our church will want to participate in a broad-based call to the grace of giving.

How can we all participate? Our hope is that each of us will do something. If you are not yet giving consistently to LBC, we encourage you to start. If you are able to increase your giving to a full tithe (10%) or more, now is the time. The aim here is to strengthen broad-based giving to the general fund, which will benefit the long-term health of our church.

Renewal Fund: If God has blessed you with a capacity to give a large mid-year gift, please consider a gift to the new Renewal Fund. This is for gifts above and beyond your regular giving to replenish our savings and enable us to support optimal staffing, including the eventual new Senior Pastor. If you give online at lakebaldwinchurch.com, the Renewal Fund is listed as a giving option in the drop-down menu.

Please join us for the congregational meeting this Sunday at 9:30 at the 9th Grade Center in our worship area, where the elders will share more of this future vision. Childcare will be available.

From the beginning of our church, we have kept to our vision of financial management characterized by integrity, generosity, and forward thinking. We’re so grateful for how God has used you to bring that vision to life year after year. 

As always, our trust is in God and his promises: “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)
 

Gratefully, your elders