Challenging Times

Well, we made it through 2008!  And now we face a 2009 filled with hopes and dreams and expectations, and a little trepidation! I love the New Year.  It is a time of rebirth and new beginnings and New Year’s Resolutions.  

Speaking of New Year’s Resolutions: This year I am going to lose weight AND keep it off.  Of course I say that every year and it doesn’t seem to do any good.  Maybe this year you all can hold me accountable.  I will have a chart on the wall in my office on which I will record my weight each week.  Feel free to pester me, to quiz me, and/or encourage me. 

I also know that 2008 was a hard year for many of you. We lost two of our most beloved members: Kay Meidlinger and Elton Hughes.  The economy has tanked. Homes are in foreclosure. Expenses were up and income was down.  And 2009 doesn’t look any better.  Not yet, at least. 

It is true for the church, too.  We will lose a substantial amount of income in 2009.  The New Life Church which rented space from us on Sunday evenings has gone back to being a “home” church.  That’s $12,000 of income we no longer have.

A number of families have moved out of the area or have fallen on hard times.  That means that we will be down in our pledge income by about $15,000. Organizations aren’t renting our facility as often and loose offerings are down.  Then we have the added expense of having to hire a choir director as Dave Robertson is stepping down after fourteen years of  wonderful service. 

The good news is that the Korean church and 3-D Preschool are both increasing their contributions for the use of our facility.  We also have cut where we could. We are using “designated funds” where ever possible, the staff is not getting any raises, and we are not increasing any of the committee’s budgets.  We are also substantially reducing the amount of money that is being set aside to fund my sabbatical which I will put off until 2010.

What that all means is that we are $10,000 in the red for 2009.  That sounds bad, and it is certainly not a place we want to be in, but it could be much, much worse.  We are blessed to have a healthy reserve that will more than cover that amount, however we do not want to have to use that money unless we have to. 

So what to do?  Well, one way you could help is to make sure you pay your per capita assessment of $27.90 per member.  We are assessed this each year to help defray the operating expenses of the San Jose Presbytery, the Synod of the Pacific, and General Assembly.  If everyone paid their share we could reduce the deficit by over $3000.  For those of us who can, we could also increase our pledge, even slightly – every little bit helps.  We are also looking for another renter which could increase our income, thus reducing our deficit. 

There is one other way that could help – MORE MEMBERS! If each of us invited one person to church with us over the course of this next year, statistics tell us that up to 25% could actually join.  That would mean an increase of around 35 new members. And they’d already be your friends.  Wouldn’t that be great?

Of course, if none of that works out – we can tap our reserves.  I am confident that this is going to be an exciting year.  I am excited that we all are in it together. I can’t think of another group of people I would rather spend 2009 with.

May you each be blessed with an abundance of God’s grace, peace, love, and laughter.

And as always, I’ll see you on Sunday!

Pastor Tom