12 August 2021
Good Day and Greetings to Everyone!
Happy August. Today’s heat index is currently at 103 degrees! That’s hot no matter where you are from. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to be part of a meeting of Pastors at our District Superintendent, Cathy Boileau’s home. There were about 10 of us, so the meeting was held in her back yard, which has no trees. It was a great time of fellowship and discussion, but what we all found somewhat humorous is how we were all, literally, dripping with sweat by the end of the meeting. It was not just the heat, but the humidity- anyone seeing us leaving must have thought that we had just received a good working over by our boss! The truth is that Cathy is wonderful to work with and all of us feel blessed to have her as our DS.
Well, our new doors are installed at Yorkshire! Your response has been very positive! Our tailed friends not so much. The doors have met our expectations in every way. With some minor adjustments to our
original quote and the addition of some access technology, our final
price will come in around $22-24,000.00. Through the utilization of honorariums that the church has received over the years as well as many of your generous contributions, we have raised about $15,000 to offset our costs. At this point the difference will come out of church fund balances, which are available. But we still have much work to be done at Yorkshire Church. We have work that needs to be done outdoors. Often, during heavy rains, water continues to challenge our foundation, often flowing into our fellowship hall. And we have many improvements that we would like to make for access into our facility overall. Therefore, any additional donations or contributions that you would prayerfully like to make toward the final payment of our door upgrades would certainly be appreciated!
Yorkshire Church is financially healthy! We are able to pay our bills, shares of ministry, invest in ministry, repair and upgrade our facility, and begin to support various missional outreaches. Our finance team led by Doug Berman, Justin Mann, and Alison Sutherland are doing an amazing job. And they couldn’t do this without our dedicated team of money counters led by Charlie Hoffman; Frank Herron, Steve Coates, Don Reigart, Ginny Browne, Susan Herron, Janice Hoffman, Barb Blair, Jamie Strange, Dale Auchenbach, Rick and Tara Focht, Fran Lucash, Elke Yingling, and Diane Tutino. Thank you to all of these great folks!
Our finances through the end of July are posted below. If you have any questions about them, please feel free to contact me or Doug Berman. We will be happy to answer your questions or expand upon any numbers that you would like to know more about.
Yorkshire Financial Picture including Joyful Noise Christian Preschool: January 2021 thru July 31, 2021
Income: Expenses: Working Capital:
$247,874.00 226,245.00
$ 21,629.00 (Positive Working Capital)
What this picture demonstrates is that with the offerings and gifts received, minus the bills and expenses that we have to pay, we have a little over $21,000.00 positive cash flow. This does not include the payment for the doors, or the additional $20,000.00 in shares payments we need to make by the end of the year. But the projection of income and expenses between now and the end of year should be able to support those expenses adequately.
One of the things we do when we review our financial picture, is consider the trends that are being revealed so that we can plan future events, activities, and ministry investments in a manner that allows us to remain financially vital, or what we would call “solvent.” While all is very positive, the weekly trend of gifts and offerings that we have received has declined a bit since the beginning of the year. The average weekly receipts in July were about 20% less than the period January thru April. This is not a cause for concern or alarm as we may see that it represents a normal trend when you factor in vacations and other seasonal effects. But it does mean that we will continue to be vigilant in managing our operating expenses!
You may ask how we are able to invest in our facility and various activities based on our income vs. expense picture. Another factor is our cash on hand, or what we would call our General Operating Fund. This is what resides in our accessible accounts (checking/saving) to fund our church. Currently this fund contains enough money to finance our church operations for about four months with no additional income. It also provides buffers for months where our actual expenses exceed our weekly income. This has occurred in 3 different months this year (April, June, July). This is also normal as we can’t always control the timing of expenses and sometimes there is just something big that comes along that we decide to take care of right away. But this is why it is important to ensure that we maintain a proper balance of what is in our bank account and what we invest. We report this on what is called in the financial guru’s world, a Balance Sheet. And with all of what I have reported in this letter, our Balance Sheet has maintained a very solid picture- in other words, we’re balanced! That is why we also report the needs to offset investments such as the doors. The more that we can maintain the “balance,” the more we can plan to invest in ministry and the upkeep of our facility.
I just want to thank each and every one of you for your part in the ministry of Yorkshire Church. We are so blessed to be able to offer the ministries that we do in the various means that we do so. That would not be possible without you. Your prayers, gifts, ideas, inputs, and most of all, your presence are absolutely critical to us being able to be called Yorkshire Church- instead of simply the gathering at Yorkshire. Although today I reported some of the business elements that are involved in running a church in the 21st century, the reality of “being” a church is not contained in the numbers. It is contained in the immeasurable elements of your hearts. It is contained in the essence of our fellowship and the love that exists within it. The importance of “being” the church is far more critical than that of “running” the church. Both are important, yes, but we also must ensure that we keep our priorities in perspective. Thank you again for being Yorkshire Church! God Bless!
-pastor dave.
dkominsky@susumc.org
125 Edgewood Road, York, PA 17402 • (717)755-4952 • www.yorkshirechurch.org
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