By Ronald KellyUpdate from Finance & Planning
July income down
a few percentage points
By Ronald Kelly
PASADENA—After several months of reasonably steady donations, July income trailed off about eight percent when compared to July 2001. Mail income for the month was just over $1.6 million. Other sources of income brought the total monthly revenues to $1.7 million.
The year-to-date total income and gain on sale stands at $15.5 million. That’s a five percent increase over the first seven months of last year. We are thankful that we are still benefiting from the Orr, Minnesota, summer camp sale and the Legacy Partners deposit when they withdrew their bid to buy the headquarters property. As I have pointed out in previous issues, these funds are one-time shots and will not be used for income comparisons for future years. However, we are thankful for these resources at this time.
And then on the expense side of the ledger, while we have received more than $15.5 million in cash, our expenses have exceeded $17.5 million. Thus we have taken just over $2 million from the reserve funds. However, that is almost spot on the projections we had made for the budget year.
We are encouraged by letters and conversations with members who partner with us financially during these difficult times as we market the Pasadena campus.
Corporate gift matching
I received a request from a member family who works for a company that offers gift matching when employees donate to approved charities. Churches are not normally part of corporate gift matching, so we worked with them to partner with the Ambassador Center at Azusa Pacific University.
Our members wrote me: "We understand that tithing is not a requirement for salvation. However, we still firmly believe that saved Christians should have it in their heart of hearts to want to keep giving a tithe or an offering to the church out of a sense of gratitude to our Savior for all that he has done for us."
Headquarters property sale
As you are aware, we have had to reorganize our efforts to sell the Pasadena campus. We will keep you up to date in most issues of the WN. Please see the article on page 28.
Our goal for local congregations has been to find a way to retain and use 80 percent or more of member donations for local outreach, evangelism and activities. We are working with several congregations that are piloting the procedures for collection, receipting, banking and budgeting.
We regularly discuss how we could move more rapidly to implement our new financial model, but we just haven’t been able to devise a plan that will effectively maintain our financial obligations. But we continue to explore every conceivable option and will always keep you informed regarding church finances.
Statement of Operating Income and Expenses for
WCG for the Month Ended July 31, 2002
For the Month For the Year-to-Date
Income
Mail Income $ 1,621,000 $ 11,303,000
Other income 82,000 1,469,000
Subtotal 1,703,000 12,772,000
Gain on sale of SEP Orr $ 0 $ 1,336,000
Income from Legacy
deposit forfeiture 0 1,439,000
Subtotal 0 2,775,000
Total income 1,703,000 15,547,000
Expenses 2,793,000 17,659,000
Net gain (loss) to bank reserves $ (1,090,000) $ (2,112,000)
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 5005, Glendora, CA 91740.
Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 2002