ANNUAL BUDGET MEETING

Sunday, January 23, 2022 at 9AM
In person and live-streamed

This is our 135th annual meeting! Right after the 9AM worship service, we will gather, in person and online, to discern as best as we are able, God’s vision for who we are to be as a family of faith in the coming year. I hope that you will be with us for worship (my sermon will reflect on our life together), and then remain when our Moderator, Amy Baldwin, calls the meeting to order at about 9:45am.

We need 100 members in person or online for a quorum. The Annual Meeting will include reports from the Properties and Mission & Outreach Committees, and an update from our Inclusion Ministry. Our Finance Chair, Chris Laperuto, will present the 2022 budget and discussion will ensue .

TO ASK QUESTIONS OR TO VOTE:

• In person
• Via the YouTube chat (CLICK HERE)
• By email to Beth@wscongo.org
• By text at 312-371-8061

We will vote on the 2022 annual budget. The budget was approved by the Finance Committee and Church Council on Monday evening. Click below to download the proposed budget:

A few comments about the 2022 budget:

• This year’s budget was developed from requests by the ministries and committees, and put together by Finance Chair Chris Laperuto, Treasurer Bev Fleming, Business Manager Nancy O’Brien, and me. I estimate that more than 100 hours have been invested in this process with more meetings, emails, and phone calls to balance the budget than in any other year. 
• The reason? This is a tough year financially, as pledge income is basically flat for 2022.
• In addition, there are anticipated cost increases in some areas that are beyond our control (natural gas and snow removal, for instance), and a desire for modest increases for the staff. 
• Flat pledge income and some expense increases mean that several other ministries will experience decreased funding for 2022. One of those ministries is Mission & Outreach. This is painful and, I hope, temporary, but still a reality. 

Currently, the only path (unless we see growth in pledge income) to the proposed and promised balanced budget includes a $15,000 decrease of mission giving. Please note, Mission & Outreach has $42,000 in reserve and may choose to use some of that to keep 2022 giving at the 2021 level. I am grateful to all who have been involved in this process, made difficult decisions where needed, and volunteered their time and expertise.

Blessings,
Rich