Thursday, February 2, 2023

Hello everyone,

Last Sunday the Session of St. Andrew’s met for a long meeting – the better part of three hours.  The first thing I want to say is that the session of this church is made up of beautiful people of faith, people who offer their time and talent for the work of the church.  Throughout the meeting people listened intently to each other, asking good and appropriate questions, sharing their celebration of the life of our congregation and their concerns as well.   I have to say I am honoured to be the moderator of this session.  The larger church should be proud of them and feel confident that they love the church, are working hard for the church on behalf of all of you.  Much of the discussion was flavoured by the concerns around the deficit in the financial statements of 2022.  Adjustments still need to be made including asking the congregation to apply $44,872 to the income for 2022 out of the trust funds, but even after that the deficit will be approximately $145,000 as opposed to the $75,000 deficit that had been budgeted.  Thankfully, surpluses in both 2019 and 2020 offset this amount.  However, going forward we need to plan effectively. The finance committee together with the operational council worked hard during January to create such a plan.  Session will continue conversations about it again on February 15 in preparation for the annual general meeting on February 26, but some of the ideas being considered are as follows

 1. Promotimg our parking lot.  Pre-pandemic revenues from parking were at $70,000 annually. In 2022 parking lot revenue was just over $10,000

2. Promoting use of our space to other groups, perhaps even long-term tenants   Finding the right tenant may be difficult but we have already begun reaching out.  The possibility does exist of another congregation with similar values to ours using our space as well

3. Promoting the renovated chapel as a place for concerts, recitals, theatre productions and community events

4. Effective use of the trust funds for extra expenditures outside the budget in accordance with the trust funds policy.  These funds were provided by people who love the church and desire for the church’s mission and ministry to continue for years to come.  Last year we used approximately $76,000 from trust funds when more could have been utilized.  That is why the session will be recommending to the congregation a further use of $44,852 from the trust funds to be applied to 2022 as income.

5. Monthly reporting of the finances to the congregation in 2023 and beyond

6. Stronger focus on our yearly special financial appeals at Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Historically these appeals have been very successful.  During COVID they were less so.

The financial picture from 2022 was not all bad news.  Donations to Presbyterian Sharing were up 4% last year and the amount of money raised for mission and ministry partners within the community was very high once again - over $65,000.   There is no doubt but that the people of st Andrews are generous and caring in their giving.

Moving forward may seem daunting right now.  I have to admit it has been a stressful month.  But with effective planning and hopeful realism*, I see a way forward.  I invite you to so the same.

Take good care and God bless.

*hopeful realism is a phrase introduced to the congregation a few years ago by Rev. Dr. Herb Gale.  I love the phrase. It is a call to be realistic, but also to not lose faith. Our hope is in God - a God we experience in compassion, care, generosity and a deep love for each other and the community we serve.

Previous
Previous

Thursday, February 9, 2023

Next
Next

Thursday, January 26, 2023