By Bernie Schnippert
Greetings once again from the Treasurer's Office. I hope this new year finds you and your family enjoying good health and the many spiritual blessings God bestows upon his children.
I am pleased to once again share with you the church's financial picture.
As noted in the included tabular report, daily mail income for January amounted to an average of about $124,385. This figure is down substantially from December's daily mail income average of $168,338, and is the lowest in absolute terms of any month in recent church history.
Nonetheless, it is within our projections for January. This is because January tends to be one of the lower income months of the year, possibly because December (of the previous year) is usually a good month. People tend to give before the year's end to ensure their contributions will be deductible from that year's income taxes.
Although income for January was within our projections, please bear in mind that our projections were for less money total for 1997 than for 1996. This lowered projection is to ensure that our expenses fall at or below our income this year, and not in any way to create for ourselves lowered expectations so that we give less.
Why do I mention this? Because when I share with you our income projections, I do not want them to become unconscious goals in the sense that they become self-fulfilling prophecies and cause people to give less.
I would rather be projecting higher income each year than the year before rather than lower income. Notwithstanding wishes, and, although each of us should set a goal to give more as we are able, as the church's treasurer it is my job to make forecasts in line with good financial stewardship and to provide a balanced budget for our employees to plan their work within.
This means planning for the worst case scenario, not for the best case. I would like for nothing more than my projections to be low because our members give more.
In light of January's lowered income figures under 1996, our budget manager informs me that it is imperative that February be a good month, with income that rises well above the yearly projected average daily mail income figure.
Please join with me in praying for many good months to come. And thank you for your continued generosity and support.
February 18, 1997, WN, page 11
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