Update from Finance & Planning

October donations
remain steady

By Ronald Kelly

Donation income for October remained at a consistent level. This, following a good September, is encouraging. So a special thanks for your generous support through these difficult times.

Donation income for the month was just over $2.1 million. That brought the annual contribution income to $18.2 million. While the annual total is still five percent below the same period last year, we appreciate that the rate of decline is less than it was a few months ago.

All sources of income, other than member donations, were $256,000 for the month and $4.9 million for the year to date. Other sources of income are estate donations, Legacy Partners escrow extension payments, tuition and fees, auction sales proceeds and a few other smaller revenue sources. Thus our total income for October was almost $2.4 million and the total for the first 10 months of the year was $23.1 million.

As I write, we are preparing our income and expense budgets for 2002. And as with all annual budget planning we manage to request more in expenses than we anticipate in income. But that’s part of the process. A number of meetings are scheduled to prepare the final edition of the budget that will be sent to the church board of directors for approval in December. That is something to keep on your prayer list.

Most of you are aware that our desire is to implement a new WCG financial model. This plan will provide for congregations to have a large percentage of their donations attributed to or remain in each local church bank account. We had hoped that escrow would have closed before now and that implementation of the new model could begin in early 2002.

However, the earliest we can now expect to close on the property sale is late March. In order to implement the plan at the beginning of 2002, escrow needed to close long before now. These delays affect implementation of the new financial model.

We appreciate your patience as we move through what has proved to be a slow process. Those of us who work on these matters day-to-day are anxious to conclude the sale and move on with the new financial plan for our congregations. But until the Pasadena property sells we are limited in what we can accomplish.

We are holding our heads above water, but continue to use reserve funds for a portion of operating capital. As of Oct. 31 we have transferred $4.4 million of our reserves this year to maintain our expense budgets.

Each year, contributions for December are higher than other months. This is a good time to evaluate tax implications and consider generous year-end giving to assist the church.

Your regular and consistent contributions are a big help in our budget planning. And your prayers are even a more important part of the ability of our church to proclaim the gospel to the world. Truly the gospel message is the most important activity we can engage in.

What a wonderful God and Father we have who allows us to share in the work he is doing to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Statement of Income and Expenses for

WCG and PTM combined for October 2001

                                                For the Month         For the Year-to-Date

Income

    Mail Income                              $ 2,138,000             $ 18,215,000

    Other income                                  256,000                  4,977,000

        Total income                            2,394,000                23,192,000

Expenses                                          2,570,000                 27,644,00

Net gain (loss) to bank reserves       $ (176,000)            $ (4,452,000)

Wills and trusts

Many members have requested information on how best to make a gift to the Worldwide Church of God, either during their lifetime or upon death through wills, trusts or other means.

If you want to receive information regarding such gifts, the Legal Department of the church is available to aid you in this regard without cost or obligation. Please write to Legal Office, Worldwide Church of God, Box 111, Pasadena, California, 91123.

The Legal Department regrets that, because of the variance in laws of other countries, such legal information is only applicable to residents of the United States and Canada. However, in regard to other countries, the Legal Department will furnish whatever limited information it may have available.

Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 2001