“Just as you excel in every thing - in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us all - see that you also excel in this grace of giving.”
-- 2 Corinthians 8:7
The Stewardship Committee has completed its work on the 2007 Calvary Budget. They've worked really hard this year, putting in a lot of hours in prayerful work. Added to that the pastoral staff, personnel committee, missions committee, and other ministry teams have done an excellent job in preparing their respective budgets. It all works together to create a challenging and God-sized budget goal for next year.
The proposed 2007 budget of $1,972,328.75 represents an overall increase of 5.17% over the 2006 budget. In terms of dollars, that is a $97,017.50 increase. The Calvary Baptist Church family has demonstrated incredible faithfulness in giving over the last several years. More total money is being given these days to fund the ministries of our church and to pay for the new building than ever before. We have a lot to celebrate!
This proposed budget is challenging because it calls for giving significantly more than Calvary will collect this year. In fact, at this point in time, we are about $180,000.00 behind what our current budget calls for. This means some ministries and some of the things God may be calling us to do are falling short of what they could be for lack of funding. With all of the wonderful things happening through Calvary, what more could be done if giving were at fully budgeted levels?
Our spending to date also exceeds our income to date, by about $70,000.00. That means the fund reserve we maintain in order to make sure the church never spends more than we have is decreasing. The Stewardship Committee and the leadership of our church are watching this very carefully. If we remain that far behind to the end of the year, next year’s budget will be an even bigger challenge. Which, of course, just gives God more room to work!
God is doing so many great things at Calvary. Our missions endeavors are expanding at an exponential rate. People in our congregation are experiencing God’s call on their lives in new and exciting ways. New ministries are being formed each month. We now have six worship services each week. Each of these worshipping communities is touching new lives every week. There is a refreshing wind of God’s Spirit that is moving over our Church life. God is giving the leadership of our church a great vision for doing His work. I believe that God is challenging us as never before and I also believe that Calvary will meet that challenge.
Please prayerfully review this budget. A budget discussion meeting is planned for Sunday, November 5 in the Multipurpose Room. You will have the opportunity to review the proposed budget in more detail and ask questions of those who worked so hard to compose it. Also, please make plans to attend the church business meeting on November 12 in the Multipurpose Room. That's when we'll vote on the new budget.
God is using Calvary to bring people into His kingdom and to impact the entire world, and our budget must keep up with this growth. I pray that you will work hard in supporting what God is doing at Calvary!
blessings,
pastor ellis
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