thoughts on the news of the day: budget

hmmm…..

            Budget. It’s a bad word these days.  Our finance and stewardship committee is struggling to complete our church’s 2012 budget and it is a challenge.  While we have floated along nicely for several years, living with a deficit budget and dipping into our endowments, it is becoming apparent that we are going to have to make some fairly drastic cuts in order to balance our budget and be good stewards of all God has given to us.  This is not unusual for churches these days, or for any non-profit organization that depends on contributions to operate.  There is just not as much money to go around and folks are cutting back.  Don’t get me wrong, we have a very generous congregation but expenses have skyrocketed.

            You might be in that same position yourself.  Your financial picture might not be a bright as it once was.  Interest rates have nosedived, the stock market is dismal and lay offs at companies have all given us opportunities to hone our household budgets. 

            It could be pretty depressing if we dwell on it too much.  But our church, especially our church leaders, have a great deal of faith.  We believe that God will provide and that we will have enough to do the work in the community that God is leading us to do.  The funds will be there when we need them.

            So I encourage you, too, to have faith that all will be provided.  That’s easy to say, but not so easy to do when the check is looking bare.  But think about all the times in the past when you weren’t sure where the money was coming and it appeared.  God is in it; God is in our lives and in our budgets, we only have to trust and have faith.

            hmmm…..