Financial
Update
The month of March proved to be a financially challenging month for our church. While expenses remained close to projections, income took an unexpected dip. We fell over $6000 behind our expected pledge income and income from the plate was also behind. What all this means is that we finished the month with an operating deficit of $15, 226.
The good news is that we have now received over $257,000 in pledges. So our long term financial picture looks positive. But a five figure deficit in March is still a challenge as we seek to meet our financial obligations.
Steve Yoder, San Francisco bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal, writes of his not always successful efforts to give a tithe – ten percent – of his income to his church and other charities. He recalls the behavior of a Mennonite farmer he knew who always gave the proceeds from the sale of the first calf every year to his church, no matter what his current financial situation. Says Yoder, “Giving first – before spending on yourself – has got to be a lifestyle choice.”
