Financials


Matthew 6:21- For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.


We try to be pretty frugal around here.  If you read last month’s finance article that shouldn’t surprise you.  We pay pretty close attention to all of our expenses & really think hard if purchases are necessary to our mission of creating disciples. 

However, there is one expense category that we’ve spent substantially more on this year than last year.  For Jan-June 2017 we spent $24,850.04 in this category, but for the same time period in 2018 we spent $40,384.33!  It’s just getting out of control!!!  Well, not really.  The category is Conference & District Support, the churches tithe.  Last year at this point we had tithed 7.73% of our tithable income.  So far this year we have tithed 12.3%.

Why send more money to the conference when our income is going down?  Well, we are called to.  We are called to pass on a portion of what you give, of what God has chosen to put in our custody for a while. We pass a portion on & leave it in God’s hands to see this money gets used for His work.   And for us the place to pass it on to is to the United Methodist Conference & District, so they can provide a connection for ministry beyond the local church.

Since we are talking about expenses, I recently wrote the biggest check I have written thus far in my almost 19 months as SUMC’s financial officer.  It was for $300,000.  But that was in July, so I can’t talk about that yet…. Oh, OK, I’ll let you know what it was.  It was a principal only payment on our mortgage!  When I get asked how much debt we have I no longer have to say $1.3 million.  We now owe $973,794.43 and I know it sounds like a lot still, but that is great progress!!!


So hopefully this article gives you an idea of where we put our treasure.  We increase our tithe to show our heart is with God.  We reduce our debt because that helps us get to a place of sustainability, of sustaining this place of worship for you, your children, and others.  Our hearts are with God & with SUMC being God’s place for generations to come.

As always, thank you.  Thank you for lovingly giving of your gifts of time, talent, and financial resources in celebration of God's generosity in Jesus Christ.  Thank you for sharing God’s love and grace so that we can make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of our community and the world!

Brandon



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