Financial Update from Shaun
I received the following message and report from Shaun:
Greetings Congregation, I hope everyone is doing well. I just wanted to send a quick update for everyone since we haven't been able to meet and worship together in a while. Thank you to everyone who has sent in gifts and offerings during this crisis. Here is a simple look at Mar/Apr 2020 budget.
| Budget for March/April 2020 | $31,880.00 |
|---|---|
| March/April Offering income | $25,188.00 |
| March/April other income | $813.56 |
| March/April Savings income | $5,000.00 |
| Total income | $31,001.75 |
| March/April expenses | $29,025.45 |
| Net | $1,976.30 |
A survey to get your input!
I put this announcement in the Wednesday Night Live! Mailchimp email:
I have recently connected to some resources that have been designed to help pastors and congregations navigate this unique time of pandemic which has caused major disruptions in our life together as a congregation. One of these resources is a weekly Check-in survey that will let me know how St. John's members are doing, spiritually, mentally, physically, and financially. The survey does not associate your identity with any responses your provide, but will create a general idea of how congregation members are doing. That will enable me to be a better leader in this difficult time together that we share. The survey is 20 questions, and will take 3-5 minutes to complete. Text RFKH to 90888 to start the assessment on your smartphone, or click/tap here to begin. Thanks much!!
So far, 13 persons have completed the survey -- Thanks! My plan is to offer this survey weekly, and to put the link to the survey in both the Wednesday and Saturday MailChimp emails, and then take responses until Sunday night. So if you have already completed the survey, great! If you haven't, take a few minutes (3-5) to do so at the link above or here (same link). I'll report on the survey results in next week's Update.
Zoom Meeting with Bishop
This week's Zoom meeting with Bishop Daniel included congregation presidents from most synod congregations. Our very own Mike Berger joined the meeting, which focused on congregations creating a plan to open the congregation's building for in-person worship. It became clear that when we do this, it will not just be business-as-usual. We will still need to practice social distancing, with changes in how we do worship things like sharing the peace (nope), offering and Holy Communion. The imagery that is used is that of a dimmer switch slowly turning up the brightness as opposed to flipping a switch from off to on.
Next steps for us will be for Executive Committee to meet this Sunday (with social distancing) at 11am to review the content of the meeting, and begin to create our plan for return. Obviously, this isn't going to be easy, but we can do it. The Synod office sent us a summary of the meeting, along with the documents and other resources that were shared. You can view that email with link to the resources here.
Wednesday Night Live!
Our Wendesday Night Live! group met again this wee, with about 12 accounts joining the meeting, most with one present, but some with two or more. We continued our look at the Lord's Prayer as we we considered the Fifth Petition -- Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. We have been viewing a video by author, pastor and Valpo professor Walt Wangerin. He told a moving story of how he experienced forgiveness from his son. We'll do it again Wednesday night, and a reminder that you can also join by phone.
Phone calls/emails/messages
I'm keeping in touch with some of our members with phone check-ins -- If you know of someone who could benefit from a call, let me know, and I'll move him/her to the top of my list. Also using email and text messages for communication. Specifically, I'm sending emails/text messages to thank members for their financial support.
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