20 January 2021
Blessings and Greetings Fellow Yorkshirians!
As we are now a few weeks into the New Year, our worship, meeting and activity cycles are again finding their way to a more consistent rhythm. Although I never like to see the Advent Season come to an end, I also find peace in the process of getting things back to normal (whatever normal means anymore!).
Beginning in February, we will return to our monthly celebration of Communion during the first Sunday of each month. We will continue to use the practice that we put in place in September where you will pick up the “elements” as you enter the Sanctuary (oyster crackers and Dixie cup). For those that are participating on-line, I invite you to have the elements at hand for worship, either a cracker, or a piece of bread and a small cup of juice so that you may also participate in this Sacrament.
Looking a little further ahead, you can also plan for an Ash Wednesday service at 7PM on the 17th of February and a Good Friday service on April 2nd. More info to come on those services, but you can at least know that we are planning on them.
Regarding our church financial picture, our 2020 financial statements have been completed. As we enter 2021, we have a stable financial foundation to build on. As you can see, we ended last year in a positive fashion proven by our ability to pay all of our financial obligations and achieving what a finance person would consider “positive cash flow.” As you will see, we were $45,000 cash positive as of December 31st. What is important to realize moving forward, that this was made possible by the receipt of the PPP Loan (due to Covid), as well as the fact that we only paid a small portion of our shares of ministry. So, while the picture is very positive, many of those factors will not play out in 2021. Even with that being said, our finance team has done the diligent work of managing and reducing our operating expenses so that we can continue to meet our financial obligations as well as pay a negotiated level of shares of ministry which is acceptable to the United Methodist Church.
Additionally, Joyful Noise Preschool has done a fantastic job managing their expenses given that they were not able to hold preschool due to the early pandemic lock downs and then minimized enrollment to meet guidelines when they were permitted to again open their doors. Kudos to team Joyful Noise in providing a robust, energetic, and welcoming Christian learning environment to our students!
January through December 2020
INCOME:
Tithes, Gifts and Offerings: $376,822
PPP Loan (Covid) 44,028
Boiler Fund 33,130
Joyful Noise Tuition 17,305
Other Income 934
TOTAL INCOME $472,219
EXPENSES:
Operating Expenses $345,296
Shares of Ministry 15,043
Boiler & Building Improvements 44,156
Joyful Noise Preschool 21,902
TOTAL EXPENSES $426,397
BALANCE: $45,821
Of course if you have any questions on this financial summary, please do not hesitate to contact me, Doug Berman (new Finance Chair), Justin Mann (Treasurer), or Dale Achenbach (past Finance Chair).
Also looking ahead…our Women’s Bible Study will be starting and a new Men’s Bible Fellowship Challenge will run for Lent. I will be providing more information next week, but, in order for our men folk to start planning, we will hold an 8-week men’s bible study beginning on Wednesday morning, February 17th and wrapping up the Wednesday after Easter. We will meet at 6AM in the Fellowship Hall to participate in a Series called “Rough Cut Men” which will include a half hour video and 15-20 minutes of discussion and fellowship. Coffee and Donuts will be available. This early meeting time will allow those that are working plenty of time to get to work, and the rest to possibly continue in fellowship for breakfast at a local restaurant of choice– of course all of this will follow our existing safety guidelines and protocols. This is my Lenten Challenge to our men- more info to come!
I hope and pray that all of you have a great and blessed week! Peace!
– pastor dave.dkominsky@susumc.org
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