By The Rev. Dr. Carl Grosse

At the close of April, the church income for the year-to-date was $205,567 and expenses were $148,597. This surplus added $56,970 to your cash balance, and I invite you to ask anyone on the Finance Committee how much cash you have. All I will say is you have a healthy cushion.  For me personally, I find great irony in the fact that every church I’ve served had a better financial condition when I left than when I came. I try to focus on preaching, teaching and pastoral care, plus my personal management is questionable. Take this as one more bit of evidence that you all are incredibly supportive of your church and that God has a sense of humor.

Your largest expenses are staff and buildings, which is true of most churches. Both categories continue to increase over time. Many churches struggle to afford a full-time pastor, and aging buildings require expensive maintenance, not to mention the growing cost of upgrades. For example, your Infrastructure Committee is researching flooring upgrades that were prompted by curling tiles on the 3rd floor of the Davis Wing.  They had to repair a broken air conditioner for the sanctuary. These projects aren’t cheap, but they are necessary. The resource demands of keeping what you have make it difficult for most churches to decide what to explore or pursue for growth and outreach. However, you are in a different position from most churches.

Because decisions about growth or outreach initiatives involve 3 to 5-year commitments at minimum, it’s not the role of an interim to start anything. You’ll do that with your next pastor. However, I’m grateful that you are in a good position to consider different options. Between your available cash, support from The Foundation, denominational grants, and your generous giving, you and your next pastor will have what you need so that you can pray for clarity about the needs and opportunities around you, dream about how you can respond to them, and pursue those dreams with confidence.