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Solid Rock Christian Church Newsletter Winning to Jesus - Growing in Jesus
Craig Rippy
Office Telephone 573-265-5003
Gene Scantlin and Alan Wynn, Elders. Diane Daniel, Preschool Director.
Congregational Meeting
1. There were 19 that accepted the call of Christ and were baptized into Him last year and there was also one that transferred their fellowship to Solid Rock. That is the first part of the motto, "Winning to Jesus". 2. Our average attendance went up from 135 in 2002 to 150 in 2003. That equates to the other part of our motto, "Growing in Jesus". With that said, as we move forward to reach the lost for Jesus we must realize that we will eventually have to build facilities to use for the education of those that come into His kingdom. We would like to have the master plan for our property so that we can make wise decisions on how to build on the property God has blessed us with. As you know we took up a special offering last fall to acquire the master plan and have well over half of the necessary funds to get it on the move. We will schedule a second special offering on the second Sunday in March (March 14th) to acquire the remaining funds for that plan. We still need between $1500 and $2000 to reach the funds needed for the Master Plan. Please pray and set aside a portion for this plan that will aid us in making the wise and necessary decisions in the future for the proper use of His property.
Serving with You for His Good Purpose,
The remaining 80% is used to pay Craig and Brian and to meet the operating expenses of the church (utilities, insurance, mortgage, telephone, etc.) And to fund the various programs we have throughout the year (Sunday and Wednesday services, VBS, youth activities, preschool, etc.)
Total income for 2003 was $120,380 with $27,800 designated and $93,872 undesignated. We had some special needs that arose in 2003, and the church rose to the occasion to meet those needs with designated offerings–however, undesignated offerings seemed to suffer slightly as a result. Total expenses for 2003 were $121,325 with a breakdown shown in the table. (This table Insert is in the February 2004 newsletter)
A breakdown of the church's expenses by major category shows Payroll is the largest, with 48% of undesignated money going to pay salaries and taxes. The operating expenses of the church require 14%, the mortgage requires 16%, and the programs require 22%. Designated offerings typically go to enhance the mortgage and church programs (gifts for VBS, youth activities and preschool). For instance, an additional $10,000 was paid on the building principal through the capital campaign and other gifts toward the building principal. And of the program expenses shown in the table, only $3,000 came from undesignated offerings–the missions and benevolence portions are paid from the missions account (the 20% discussed earlier), and nearly $9,000 was from designated offerings towards specific programs.
Our insurance costs will increase 15-25%, and utilities and other operating expenses will increase 10% or so. We would also like to give Craig and Brian a cost-of-living increase in their salaries, to help them meet rising costs as well. To do this, we need to increase our undesignated weekly giving by $300 over this year's average, to $2,080 per week. Although an increase of $300 a week sounds like a lot, let me draw on Craig's newsletter article from a few months ago. We have about 60 family units that attend Solid Rock, and dividing the $300 over the lot of us results in $5 a week. Can we all consider increasing our giving by $5 a week? For some, this amount may be a stretch (I know how it can be when money is tight or income is fixed - I went to college!!), but for others it wouldn't be a stretch to give $5 plus some extra each week. And, there may be some that would consider giving regularly to the church for the first time. In any case, the people of Solid Rock have shown their willingness to meet needs in the past, and God has blessed us all as a result.
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