At 12:01a.m. on Friday, April 1st, I will again be fasting and praying about our special Easter offering. My objective is to fast one day for every one thousand dollars of our goal. As you know, our goal is $15,000, to be used to replace our current playground with a new and safer one. Last year, I fasted for twelve (12) days, which is the longest I have ever fasted. While we did receive a great offering, we fell short of our goal of $15,000.
I must confess I am somewhat concerned about this year's goal being reached. Now I know that God is in control and that anything is possible with Him. I have every confidence that HE will be able to help me make the whole fifteen (15) days of fasting. What fuels my concerns is our current shortfall in meeting our weekly budget. As I write this, we are currently over $500 under budget in our weekly giving, which translates to over a $6,000 budget deficit. This is nearly half of our discretionary budget for the entire year and we are only in the first quarter.
Over the last few years, we have pursued a simple, consistent stewardship strategy. We are committed to following priorities: 1) give 10% (a tithe) to missions, of every dollar we receive in general offerings; 2) take 3% of every dollar we receive and make additional principal payments on our mortgage, which is presently just under a half million dollars; and 3) fund our budget with fifty (50) weeks of offerings, and have two (2) special offerings each year. We have one special offering the Sunday before Thanksgiving to fund our benevolence ministry, My Brother’s Keeper. The second offering is on Easter Sunday to fund special projects, like the playground renovation.
Another important aspect of our stewardship strategy is that we divide our annual budget into two sections -- essential and discretionary. We can only spend money on discretionary expenses if our essential expenses are covered. Our current weekly offerings are nearly two hundred dollars ($184) per week less than our essential expenses. This is unsustainable. If it does not change quickly, it will require that we cut salaries and/or staff.
I do not believe in gimmicks or fancy campaigns when it comes to stewardship. I believe that complete honesty and total disclosure are most important. We will not spend money we do not have. If our weekly offerings do not increase, our expenses MUST decrease. Since there is no fat in our budget, we must cut "muscle," and that means lowering our essential expenses. The single biggest item in the essential expense budget is salaries. These are the facts.
What can we do about it? First, I believe everyone needs to be in prayer. The problem is not that our God lacks the resources. Second, each of us needs to take a serious look at our giving to the church. Since it is tax time, you can easily see if you have been giving as God has blessed you. Third, we each need to be very disciplined about our giving. Oftentimes, people forget that when they are not in church, our expenses go on. This is why soon we will be introducing online giving where you can set up an automatic draft from your checking account for your giving.
These are hard financial times. The economic situation of our nation has increased all of our costs, personally and congregationally. Yet, I believe God is still in control and is greater than all of these circumstances. He will provide the resources if we do our very best and leave the results up to Him. As I fast, I will be praying, not only for our special offering, but for each and every household in our congregation. I will also be asking for wisdom for myself, the staff, and the management team as we consider our options over the coming weeks. Please add your prayers to mine as we, together, seek God's blessing.
