21 July 2022 / Greetings Yorkshire Church!
We enjoyed our week of vacation last week which included online worship participation to hear Bud’s great messages! On the 10th I watched from a bench on a dock (online) which was a part of our rental property, and on the 17th, Holly and I actually came to Yorkshire to simply worship with the fellowship. Both were great blessings! Our time in the Finger Lakes region of New York was very relaxing and we had opportunities to spend quality time with our family throughout the week.
But, as they say, it is good to be back and this week has again been a busy one. Of course the most obvious activity happening at our church is the renovation process. We did not move a lot of dirt this week outside, but significant work has been happening on the inside preparing for the construction of the new restroom facilities and the installation of a new water service to replace the old, outdated one. You can enjoy the pictures in the weekly announcements! Next week, work will again shift to the outside and additional grading and ramp preparation work will continue.
Our public proclamation of our process is “We’re Opening New Doors.” This of course is a literal point as we are doing just that with the new ADA access ramp and door into the fellowship hall. But I would like to think that this is also a great mantra to go into the Fall and “Back-to-School” time period in a few months (not rushing the summer). We can consider that we are “opening new doors” to new people in our community. We may be “opening new doors” to new relationships with Jesus Christ within our fellowship and our community. We may be “opening new doors” to serving our community and the missions that we are called to support. We may be “opening new doors” to our own participation in our church’s ministries and activities. We may be “opening new doors” in our personal faith journey endeavoring into new Bible study groups, or a small group fellowship. Maybe we will simply “open new doors” in our hearts to spend focused time in the Word of God and an enhanced prayer life. In all of these things, may we simply open new doors within our hearts for Worship of God. Two verses come to mind when I think about doors:
Revelation 3:20: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”
John 10:9: “I am the door; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.”
Although we may consider doors in many ways, our primary focus as a church must be on the door of which Jesus speaks in these scriptures. First, it is Christ that is seeking a relationship with us and for those of us who have opened the door, we enjoy an unmatched joy in our communion with God through His communion with us. It is through our joy in this same communion that we shine His light to those that do not yet know that such a relationship with God is possible. So, when we say we are “Opening New Doors,” the opportunities for Yorkshire Church are not only possible, but they can also a great opportunity for us to bring glory to God in all that we do!
A quick update on the Youth Ministry position. We continue to seek the right candidate to serve this valuable ministry of our church. We currently have two candidates that we are speaking to and a sub-team of Staff Parish will be meeting with one of the candidates next week! Keep this need in our church in your prayers!
The Finance Team met last week while I was on vacation to review our financial posture through the first sixth months of the year. Our financial status through June 30th is as follows:
January 2022 through June 2022
Income: $109,408
Expenses: $122,146
Balance: $ -12,739
As you can see, we are currently in a position where our expenses are exceeding our income. There are two primary culprits for this: 1) Utilities. We have spent over $8,200 more this year in electric and gas than last year due to rate increases. 2) Maintenance & Repair. We continue to need to do repair and maintenance on our facility. We have spent over $13,000 this year in this category compared to about $5,400 last year at this time.
The following observation was noted in the minutes of the Finance Team meeting: “The Committee briefly discussed the increase in weekly attendance, yet the very slight decline in giving…” So, although we are growing in our attendance and activity, we are now financing a portion of our operational expenses out of our savings. Some of this is planned in relation to some of the repairs and structural improvements to our facility, but it also gives us an area that we need to monitor as we continue to invest in our ministries and “opening of doors.”
One of the areas that we have been reaching out to the fellowship for is the area of volunteers. As we launch a new focus area on children’s ministry “CLIMB” on Sunday mornings, we have a need for folks to staff the nursery. While our efforts in this area have filled many of the Sunday morning needs, we are left with several Sundays where we have no volunteers to meet this need. The option that we are considering is to hire additional staff to work on Sunday mornings to provide nursery care. The challenge here is that while we grow in our attendance and ministry, we are doing so with less income, which limits our ability to finance such additional staffing long term. It is my hope that we can meet the needs of our nursery care without creating an additional staff position and fill it with volunteers from the fellowship. Currently, the need for nursery care is limited, but if we don’t prepare for it, we won’t be ready when we have the need. (We are also have needs in the Media Center). Please let Tiffany Ivie or any of the Greeters know of your interest in volunteering!
Although I continue my plea for additional volunteers to support our ministry needs and growth, I want to acknowledge all of our team members that make what we do possible! From the Media Center volunteers to our Sunday School teachers, Greeters and Ushers, Money Counters and Praise Team and Choir vocalists, you are APPRECIATED!
Have a great day and a great week! Peace and Blessings!
-pastor dave.
dkominsky@susumc.org
717-858-5870
125 Edgewood Road, York, PA 17402 • (717)755-4952
• www.yorkshirechurch.org
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