The proposed budget has been approved by the Finance Committee and the Diaconate. The budget will be presented at the church conference on Sunday December 9th for approval by the congregation. Any changes to the current proposal will be communicated to the congregation in advance of the church conference.

Overall spending to meet ministry objectives is projected to decrease slightly during 2019.  However, due to a reduction in reliance on reserves for next year, in order to meet the spending need, projected income for tithes/offerings and interest income (budget receipts) will need to remain at approximately the same amount as the 2018 budget, or $1,767,482 compared with $1,767,212.  (2017 budget receipts were $1,721,896, and as of this date, projected receipts for 2018 are between $1,710,000 and $1,730,000.)

Ministry Program Income is projected to be down due mainly to the youth choir mission trip being in 2018 and not in 2019, plus some ordinary reorganizing of programming and a decrease in expected food service receipts.

The planned use of reserve funds to support the 2019 budget will decrease from $130,000 to $98,000 and be allocated as follows:

  • $90,000 to fund major repair/capital improvements items from undesignated bequests.
  • $5,000 to support mission projects, and
  • $3,000 to support this year’s Upward Basketball Ministry (Remaining funds that were previously allocated but unused from prior years.)

The personnel committee recommends that compensation and benefits for 2019 would decrease overall by $21,860 compared to the 2018 budget.  The decrease, which is the sum of many moving parts listed below:

  • Decrease: budgeted half-year salary for retiring Associate Pastor in 2018 no longer included for 2019.
  • Increase: New youth minister salary budgeted for 8 months in 2018 and for 12 months in 2019.
  • Increase: part-time Associate Pastor: Spiritual Formation budgeted for 10 months in 2018 and for 12 months in 2019.
  • Raising salaries by 1.5% cost of living increase.

Most other ministry area spending was reduced slightly to manage the overall need to keep the expected budget receipts at their current level.  A few of the changes are highlighted below:

Pastoral Care

  • Reductions here are related mostly from the associate pastor’s retirement and budgeted needs for Dr. Sumerel coming from line items in the Adult Formation budget.

Music & Worship

  • The decrease in this section is related to expected cost reductions that will occur due to reallocation of resources related to the 2019 sabbatical for the associate and assistant pastors.

Mission Trips

  • The Youth Choir trip to Thailand in 2018 cost significantly more compared with the expected cost of the youth summer mission trip in 2019.

Communications

  • The net decrease in the line items is related to a further decrease in overall advertising spending in local papers and other publications.

Missions and Mission Partnerships

  • Overall allocations to mission partners increased by $2,500.

Please feel free to contact Rob Young, Finance Committee chair, or anyone on the finance committee, Scott North, Church Administrator, Jenny Hall, Personnel Committee chair, for questions and clarifications.

Proposed 2019 Budget