Wednesday, July 17, 2024
Hello everyone,
I’m just recovering from a nasty summer cold which means I lost a couple of days late last week, so it is good to be back in the office today. I want to take a moment to celebrate with the congregation two very important decisions that were made at the congregational meeting on Wednesday July 10. These motions were the result of a lot of hard work between the Finance Committee and the Trustees of the church. As you may know, coming out of the pandemic we faced some hard realities in terms of our financial situation. In both 2022 and 2023 we had deficits close to $150,000. We all knew continued deficits of that magnitude are not sustainable. The congregation faced a similar situation back in 2018. This time, however, thanks to the hard work of those mentioned above, a plan has been set it place and is now being implemented. It involves setting up a reserve from trust funds of $350,000 to meet the financial needs in the short term (the intent at this point is to pay those funds back) and to accelerate a three to four year plan of developing relationships with partners who will share our building and help to pay the costs of maintaining this building.
As you may know, right now two congregations and a day care company are the potential partners that will start us off in this direction. There is a potential that these three partners will be able to pay St. Andrew’s for use of space totalling $150,000 or more within the next two years. In addition, we are seeking further partners in ministry and everyday rentals. Within three to four years the plan is to be back at a balanced budget.
We have looked at this plan from a variety of different perspectives. It is a good plan. It enables us to strengthen our ministry and outreach into the community. For example both Nexus (we are signing a lease with them this summer) and KW Redeemer (we hope to sign a lease with them before the year is out) have indicated their desire to work with St. Andrew’s to meet the clothing and food insecurities within the downtown core. Both congregations are interested in helping and expanding the thrift shop, and any food initiatives we may have. As well, they are keenly interested in the Roy Street Project and the way it may provide opportunities for service and outreach for their congregations as well. The day care is desperately needed downtown as well. For St. Andrew’s to have attracted the interest of a company with a proven track record is wonderful. As well, there is renewed interest among two Indigenous groups to talk about the possibilities of working together.
Even though it is a good plan, there will be challenges. It will mean that our church space is much busier – not only on Sunday mornings but during the week as well as we open our doors to more people, meeting greater needs. There will be times as a church we will be tempted to think about ‘us’ and ‘them’, about ‘our’ church and ‘our needs’. Every congregation that goes through growth experiences like this has these growing pains. But I am confident, not only in the grace of God, but in the people of St. Andrew’s. It is part of your DNA to serve. It is part of your DNA to be a caring church, a sharing church. We are a congregation at one of the busiest places in downtown Kitchener and every day people walk by our doors needing comfort, care, community, belonging, food, clothing, kindness and compassion. St. Andrew’s together with our new partners - Nexus first, then hopefully KW Redeemer and Kids & Company Day Care - will be able to meet some of those needs.
So if there is time to celebrate, now is one of those times. Pat yourself on the back. Celebrate as people of God. What we decided last Wednesday paves the way for the church not just to survive, but to thrive by being a church caring for the community, following in the footsteps of Jesus. Indeed, what we did on Wednesday is to live up to our values of community, compassion and connection – all in the Spirit of Christ.
As your minister I salute you!
Rev. Marty Molengraaf (he, him)
Minister, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church