What’s Brewing, April 15, 2021

15 April 2021

Greetings to each of you!

It has been another great week at church Yorkshire! We started the week with the Celebration of Life for our own Martena (Marty) Douglas, who at 98 years of age, had been a member of our fellowship for 80 years. Although we gathered to mourn the loss of a family member and close friend of many of you, there was much joy in the hearts of those that gathered to share memories and stories of her life.

I have also appreciated the feedback that I have been receiving from many of you regarding our worship, the Max Lucado Sunday School programming, and your thoughts about the church. This is so important to me as we chart out our course for the next several months. As leaders of the church, it is our responsibility to serve you, the fellowship, and although it would be impossible to address every suggestion and concern directly, the chorus of your input provides very necessary information. It is my commitment to respond directly to each recommendation, suggestion and/or concern that you may have.

From a logistics standpoint, one of the most exciting things I did this week was attend the Finance Team meeting on Monday evening. Now, you may say that I don’t have a very interesting life if this is, in fact, a true statement. But, it is! Over the past year and a half, our finance structure has been in transition. Dale Auchenbach and Charlie Hoffman did a great job getting many disciplines in place to rebuild our financial records and accounting system. Doug Berman and Justin Mann have taken the ball and carried it to the next step- a feat made possible with the efforts and day to day processing work of Alison Sutherland. The team has looked at our church expenses and we have shared in previous correspondence much of what has been done to renegotiate service contracts and realign our operating expenses. Through it all, you, the fellowship of Yorkshire have remained tremendously generous in your gifts. The results of our first three months of 2021 from a financial perspective are as follows:

January through March 31st, 2021

Income (Tithes, offerings, and gifts): Expenses (Cost to operate the church): Net Result of Cash

$111, 542.00 (10% above budget) 81,330.00 (18% below budget)

$ 30,212.00 (Positive Cash Balance)

This means that we were able to pay all of our operating expense bills and expenses on time. Now, the $30,212 is not all “profit” if you will. Because of your generosity, the church has paid its shares of ministry for the first quarter of $10,000.00 as well as allowed us to pay our property and casualty insurance for the entire year; a little over $11,000.00. There is a great deal of data to support the fact that Yorkshire is healthy not only in our fellowship as a body, but in our fiscal status as well. As a result, we are looking to grow our ministries in the areas of missions as well as continue much needed repairs and maintenance on our facility.

An area that the Trustee leadership and the Finance Team have agreed to move forward on is an overhaul of all of our external doors. This is important for many reasons. First, for our staff who works in the building. Rodent Control. Yes, our somewhat aged front Sanctuary doors and Education Wing

doors no longer seal or align properly which allows our small, grey, and may I suggest very cute, outdoor friends with long tails free entry to the warmth of our facility. And, as a result, even though they are cute, we must take drastic measures to let them know they are not welcome. This does not typically end well for these small, wonderful creatures of God. These gaps in the doors also do not help with keeping the weather and temperature swings from the outside on the outside.

Another very important reason for this upgrade is security. For obvious reasons, I don’t want to elaborate on details, but the door mechanisms on many of our doors are no longer serviceable- especially on the front doors. We are able to make them work, but we also need to be able to do a better job of securing the facility not only when we are not there, but also when we are there during times of fellowship. Our new doors will accommodate modern fixtures and hardware that allow us to address new processes in our church in the area of Safety and Security. But, the new doors will look different. Yes. They won’t be wood. They will be glass doors and they will also be ADA compliant (Americans with Disabilities Act) which will allow much easier access for those who require wheelchairs or use various means of mobility enhancement devices. The front of the church will have a new appearance, but one that our team believes will be very inviting to our fellowship and our guests.

The cost of this much needed improvement is $21,404.00. The good news is that we can afford this much needed work. We are working to designate a specific fund to work from with these improvements and would ask that if you would like to make an additional contribution to support this project and off- set the expense, we will continue to use these funds in other improvement projects. Simply designate your gift to this cause as “Building Fund.” Another area that the trustees are looking at is our restroom facilities. From the partitions to the toilets themselves, the feeling is that we may be able upgrade these fixtures to more of a “comfort” type product, but also to ADA specifications which certainly makes accessibility and convenience much easier for all folks.

So, this is what makes our Finance Team meetings exciting. We not only talk about our financial situation, but we are now able to talk about necessary investments in our facility, our ministries, and our missions. This is only possible because of you. I am thankful. Our leaders are thankful. Our small furry friends with long tails, are thankful. And trust me, when I can honestly share how exciting our Finance Team meetings are, you can be rest assured that I can’t wait for our Education, Trustee, Missions, Nominations and Leadership, SPRC and Worship Team meetings to occur! (Can I get an Amen!?)

Note of Order: Last week during my Sunday message, I made a suggestion that Doug Berman likes coffee. Well, I must retract that statement as it was incorrect and wrongfully represented Doug’s tastes. His family likes coffee, Doug does not. Therefore, this week’s message will involve orange juice, something that Doug actually enjoys.

Thanks again for who you are Yorkshire Church. Holly and I are thankful to be a part this wonderful family and fellowship.

Peace and Blessings!

-pastor dave.

dkominsky@susumc.org

125 Edgewood Road, York, PA 17402 • (717)755-4952 • www.yorkshirechurch.org