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Last year, we heard each week from our Lay Leader, Kenny Shortsleeve, through “Good News” articles, and you all loved reading them! So, starting this week, you can look forward each week to an article from some of our staff and laity: myself on the first week of the month, the Pastor of Family Ministries (Leigh-Anne Williams) on the second week of the month, the Director of Music Ministries (Chase Gaines) on the third week of the month and from our Lay Leader (Kenny Shortsleeve) on the fourth week of the month.
This week I want to share with you a bit of information about the church and some things we have happening.
Year End Financials
We finished the year about $100,000 below our total budgeted income. As you might recall, during the shutdown the church took out a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan to help keep all of the employees of the church and WLC employed. The PPP loan did what it was designed to do and kept all church staff employed. The portion that was allocated to the church was a little more than $100,000. In addition to almost hitting our budget on income, your church staff and leadership held expenditures to less than 80% of the budget. The result is that we had a positive income of $76,000. Our application for forgiveness of the PPP loan has been submitted and we anticipate receiving forgiveness for the entire loan amount.
Financials for 2021
Our yearly stewardship campaign that we held in November produced some great numbers. In 2020, we had 90 giving units pledge a total of $548,548. For 2021, we had 101 giving units pledge a total of $644,992, which is a 17.5% increase over pledged giving in 2020!
The church Finance Committee and Ad Board agreed that, in light of the continued unknown of 2021, we should hold our 2021 budget flat with 2020 levels.
Undeveloped Land
Prior to the COVID shutdown a team had been formed to explore a variety of possibilities for the use of our undeveloped land on the south side of our property. In the last few months that team has begun its work. To begin, we needed to clear some of the land to get a better idea of what we had to work with. A group of men from the church volunteered to use their own equipment to clear the bulk of the land and then, at their expense, hired a company to remove and hydro-mulch what they could not.
Currently, the Trustees have contracted with a surveying firm to survey the whole of the church property, including the undeveloped land, and provide us with a digital survey from which land use professionals can then begin to make design recommendations. At the moment, there are no specific plans for how to use the undeveloped land. The land use team will continue to explore a variety of options for the use of the land. Any decisions as to how to use this property must first be approved by the Trustees and the Ad Board. This will likely not be a fast-moving project, but I can tell you our neighbors have noticed the change and they are appreciative.
Thank you to all of you for all that you do to make this church great!
Peace and Grace,
Mike Tyson