Commitment:
A Pledge to a Purpose

"Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine"

Proverbs 3:9-10

Your church, like every business or charitable organization, must have an operating budget in order to exercise good fiscal responsibility by controlling expenses and expenditures.

The proposed budget for the year 2002, which was recently reviewed by the Vestry and will be voted on in January prior to presentment at the annual meeting, totals $284,222 and reflects about a 25% increase over the projected expenses for the current year.

The increase is partially accounted for by the inclusion of $33,340 of bank interest and mortgage payments (which may be part of fully covered by building fund pledges) and by increased administrative, utility, and maintenance costs relative to the new and expanded buildings.

While the projected income of $287,270 exceeds expenses by $3,048, it will depend upon a 10% increase in pledged income to a level of $220,110 and a cash carry over of about $21,600 from the current year.

At this writing, the Chu8rch has received $162,824 in pledges from 86 parishioners for an average pledged amount of $1,893.

For the year 2001, the Church received pledges from 113 parishioners totaling $200,112, resulting in an average pledge of approximately $1,270.

Historically, pledge payments amount to approximately 75% of total income and pays for 80% of the expense budget.

To quote an old cliche, "There's no such thing as a free lunch. Someone pays," and we are looking for our parish family to help us meet the pledge objective.

If you haven't mailed in your pledge, please do so as soon as possible and if you have, and feel you would like to increase it to meet the 10% objective, a letter or phone call to the church office will suffice.

Thanks,
Richard F. Gerhart
Vestry Chair for Finance

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