Investing in the Work of the Kingdom
Our core values of stewardship…
- All we possess belongs to God–we are but stewards.
- We are motivated by our need to give, not the church’s need to receive.
- We live from an attitude of abundance, not scarcity.
- We pledge of our time, talents, and treasure.
How the budget process works…
In the fall, the Session and Ministry Teams begin the process of prayerfully discerning the work to which God is calling this family of faith in the new year. Each Ministry Team forwards their budget request to the Finance and Stewardship Team which, in turn, assembles a projected budget. The Session reviews and approves the budget to ensure that it represents their collective discernment of God’s calling and that it is in-line with our core values and Ministry Strategy. The goal is to step out in faith for the Kingdom while mindful of the responsibilities of sound, biblical stewardship. The budget is then presented to the congregation, usually at the Annual Congregation Meeting. The congregation members are encouraged, as an expression of their understanding of stewardship as a way of life, to make an estimate of their giving of their time, talent, and treasure. It is understood that the budget and estimates of giving are both fluid and may require adjusting over the course of the year.
Why both a narrative and line-item budget
The line-item budget provides a detailed listing of anticipated expenses. The narrative budget illustrates how those expenses are actually divided among our primary ministry areas (worship, education, mission, evangelism, and congregational care) which, in turn, allows the congregation to see the budget’s relative priorities.
Detailed information concerning the use of the Church’s endowment of funds, use of interest income, and planned giving is available from the church office at any time.