As the parish has settled into its current configuration of hybrid worship, the Corporation took time in October to gather for a mini-retreat and think about where we are and where we want to go. We have committed to not making any major changes or decisions about the direction of the parish until March, six months after the official reopening for in-person worship. At that time, we will decide how much of the Strategic Plan from late 2019 we wish to retain, and what needs to be altered, delayed, let go, or added.
This post from two years ago summarizes what remains our basic approach to our parish finances.
With regard to the operating budget for 2021: while our financial situation is still very healthy overall, especially given the challenges of 2020 and 2021, we are falling somewhat short in terms of pledge and other income for 2021. The help from the diocese and the government has come to an end, so we are now back to the regular need to be self-supporting. A number of generous givers in past years have, for various reasons, not contributed in 2021 at their previous accustomed level. If you are one of them, please consider “topping up” your giving as 2021 comes to a close! And look out for a “mini-pledge campaign” leading up to the Annual Vestry in February.
Here are some additional important updates:
- During the pandemic, the additional income from the sale proceeds has been temporarily directed into the Building Fund. The long-term goal is still to use those proceeds to augment the operating budget and to hire additional staff so as to expand our ministry capacity.
- The Corporation decided to set benchmarks for the overall total of the endowment funds. We decided that the minimum total at all times, will be $1.2 million, and the minimum required to be in the fund before beginning a capital project will be $1.4 million. In other words, to the extent that it’s within our control, we will never let the total drop below $1.2 million, and if at any time we want to spend a significant amount of money, we will have to either fundraise or rely on fund growth in order to bring that total back up to $1.4 million before doing so. (And, of course, if the capital project costs more than $200,000, the total would have to be higher in order to avoid dropping below the $1.2 million minimum.) The thinking behind setting these benchmarks is to avoid exhausting wrangling over exactly how much money we need to raise to “pay ourselves back” for each project as we address the various current and future projects that we have in mind, such as the amount that has already been spent on the elevator and the amount we may decide to spend for renovating the kitchen, as just one example.
- One specific project that was discussed at the parish meeting on November 28 is the possibility of installing an air filtration system in the sanctuary. This would not be cheap – current estimates are in the neighbourhood of $18,000-22,000 – but it would give us a great deal of peace of mind as we work to bring people back to worship in person while COVID-19 continues to be a concern. More information is here!
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