Update from Finance & Planning

2002 closes upbeat

By Ronald Kelly

As you read the WN this month, many of you may be evaluating your personal finances, reviewing your family budgets and preparing your tax returns. That’s what we are doing in Pasadena. We use December to project income and expenses and prepare a budget for board of directors approval.

In January we finalize all the data and financial information for the previous year. We then carefully confirm or revise our budget projections and strive to come as close to a balanced budget as we can. By a balanced budget, I mean one where expenses do not exceed income.

As you know, our expenses for the past few years have exceeded our income and we have had to operate using cash from the reserve funds. During that time, sale of properties such as the Orr, Minnesota, summer camp and our Big Sandy, Texas, campus, along with associated furnishings and equipment, have made it possible to keep our reserves at an appropriate level.

Allocation of funds and budgets have made it possible for us to maintain as many local congregations meeting every week as we did eight or nine years ago. While those congregations may be smaller in size, they are growing in spiritual stamina, and many are beginning to grow with new members. Further, we are making slow but steady progress toward a new financial model that moves out of a centralized financial structure to a locally administered financial arrangement.

With these procedures now behind us, I am happy to report that we are working on a balanced budget plan for 2003 where our expenses should be near our projected income. Of course that first requires that we have somewhat accurately projected our income, which is more of an art than it is a science.

The major source of our income is regular member donations, which make up about 85 percent of our total revenues. So you can see how important a regular and consistent donation pattern is for the financial well-being of the entire denomination. Co-worker donations make up about four percent of our total revenues, and estate donations make up another four percent. The final seven percent or so comes from investments, auction sales, rental income and numerous smaller sources. The good news here is that if we successfully have a balanced budget our reserve fund will remain at its current level.

Now to the December report. Donations for the month totaled just over $2.4 million, making it the highest donation month of the year. No other month topped the $2 million level (although a couple of months were at the $1.8 million level). For this, we offer thanks to each and every person who has contributed to the work of our fellowship.

The total member donation income for the year was $20.2 million. This was right at our projection. All other sources of income were a bit over $4.8 million; this was even above our projections. So, combined income from all sources was $25 million for the year. We had projected an income in the $24 million range, so we feel good that income exceeded our forecast by a million dollars.

That’s the good news. On the other hand, as we have regularly reported, expenses have been exceeding our income. Thankfully our reserve fund was sufficient to cover those expenses and still remain healthy. As we look back on 2002 we feel pretty good that our financial position is stable.

By the time you receive this issue, we should be experiencing some of the value of the small step we are taking toward the new financial model. That is, each congregation will receive back 80 percent of the offerings that exceed the same month of the previous year. We look forward to reporting the early results of this program in three or four months.

In the meantime, we trust that all of you are growing in your personal walk with our Lord and Savior, that you are excited about the potential of your local church and that your personal life is going well.

Our Church Administration staff is preparing another exciting round of regional conferences this year. We hope many (it really would be nice if almost all) of you will attend these inspirational weekends. We start in the Southwest United States April 3 to 6, followed by the Northwest, April 24 to 27. If you live in these regions, we hope you will mark these dates on your calendar and plan to attend.

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 Legal Office, Worldwide Church of God, Box 5005, Glendora, CA 91740.

Copyright © Grace Communion International, 2003