SOTV Financials

Getting Ready for the Annual Meeting: Part 5 of 5

Balance

Paul Keller
Council Vice President

From a financial standpoint, SOTV isn’t that different from our own households. The Church relies on Giving to cover administrative expenses with the vision that the remaining dollars can be used to fund benevolence. Similarly, we have jobs that provide income to support our families and we have regular expenses like mortgage, car payments, gas, utilities, and just like SOTV gives back… we give to others in need. And at the end of the day, it’s all about balance – does the amount of income exceed the amount we spend? If it doesn’t, then we may be faced with tough choices. Can we afford the new phone or the new car? Should we cut the cord on cable or should we cancel the family vacation?

We don’t always think about it, but SOTV has tremendous financial obligations necessary to support a large, dynamic congregation. In fact, did you know that SOTV is one of the TOP 10 ECLA churches nationwide? This is why it is so critical for council to have a solid understanding of the giving we are blessed to receive to ensure we are being good financial stewards. Did you know that it costs about $2.5 million dollars in costs to support the worship and programs provided? These costs include our pastors, the support staff (finance, HR, facilities, communications), our adult and children’s education programs, administrative costs for mailings and so many others.

The past several years have been challenging for most congregations nationwide and SOTV has not been immune. As times have changed and family schedules have filled, the frequency of attendance… and therefore Giving… has fallen proportionately.

Unfortunately, the weekly bulletin doesn’t always tell the entire story of our financial picture. Although we are doing very well to our current budget (an approved deficit budget), we are still behind the prior year. Thankfully, our giving has been ahead of plan and so we have been fortunate to see only a small reduction in our general fund balance [see full year chart below]. We are preparing again for our annual congregational meeting this Sunday, June 7 at 12:30 p.m., where we will propose the new fiscal year budget. Please know that you are all invited, welcome and encouraged to attend this important event.

	Last Year	Budget	Actual+Forecast
Starting Balance	$953,788	$647,290	$647,290
Giving	$2,479,206	$2,340,899	$2,444,267
Fund Balance Transfer	$43,840	$30,000	$30,000
Expenses	($2,829,544)	($2,563,438)	($2,514,839)
Fund Balance Change	($306,498)	($192,539)	($40,572)
Ending Balance	$647,290	$454,751	$606,718

SOTV is a place that is always there for us. It is there for our major life celebrations like baptisms, communions, confirmations and weddings. It is there for the special holiday events like Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. It is there for the times when we need care and support for health issues, relationship issues and helping provide funeral services. No matter what, SOTV is there.

I will fully admit that our family doesn’t attend Church every week. We have crazy, busy lives with four active kids and we find ourselves sprinting from one thing to the next. But one thing we have done as a personal choice is to enroll in Simply Giving as a way to ensure that our Giving continues even when we are not there. SOTV has always been there for us… this is how we can be there for SOTV.
Blessings!

Paul Keller
Council Vice President