By Ron Kelly
By Ron Kelly
November closed with mail income totaling $1,744,910--a daily banking day average of $91,837.
The year-to-date daily mail income average now stands at $92,700. These daily averages are below our target of $95,000. The total mail donation for the year has topped $20 million, which is down eight percent from 1998.
Much of the fall festival offerings were tabulated in November. This brought the total annual festival offering to $4,982,017. Thank you for this generous outpouring of support above tithes and offerings.
Maintaining an appropriate reserve fund is a responsible part of managing our finances. We do our best to maintain a reserve at or near the level our auditing firm, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, recommends.
Because income has declined for several years (although at a much slower rate last year) we have had to fund church operations from a portion of the reserve fund. This year we anticipate taking more than $3 million from the reserve--something we cannot continue to do.
The church board approved an interim budget for 2000. It is an interim budget, because we have been unable to sell the Ambassador University property in Texas.
If that property sells in early 2000 for an appropriate price, the board can fully approve the interim budget.
If, however, the Ambassador campus does not sell, we will have to significantly recalculate the budget for the remaining months of 2000. This is because, among other things, without a cash boost from a Big Sandy sale, the budget would result in an unacceptable loss to reserves.
Please pray for the completion of this transaction, because failure to sell the Big Sandy property would cause further employee terminations and other difficult downsizing.
We appreciate your dedication to the work God has called us to do in the body of Christ. Your loving stewardship makes it possible for us to maintain our congregations and ministries as well as fund the maintenance of our two properties while we complete the sale process. Words cannot adequately express our gratitude for what so many of you do as you serve in your churches.
Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 2000