BMPC Stewardship Letter

Letter from the Stewardship Committee

“ …’you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this. ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:30-31

March, 2010

Dear Friends:

On behalf of Session, this letter is to communicate to you the current financial situation at BMPC and its impact on the 2010 budget. Among many facets and challenges, the most significant are:

The church ended 2009 with a deficit of over $195,000, primarily due to a shortfall in fulfillment of pledges. Even with the difficult economic climate and pastoral transition, this shortfall is both unusual and unexpected. This deficit needs to be absorbed into the 2010 budget to keep us fiscally responsible- which makes us significantly behind in 2010.
We have not met our pledge goal of $2.3 million. In 2008, we received close to $2.7 million in pledges. While we can celebrate a 20% average increase in this year’s pledges to $2700, the actual number of pledging units is down from 2008 and 2009.
There is less income from the Foundation due to the financial markets.

Session is working hard to address the current situation by:

Increasing their pledges for 2010.
Reaching out and re-engaging with members who have not pledged. This is being done by all Session members, as well as Stewardship Committee members, with the goal of listening to and addressing the needs of members.
Reviewing all Council and Benevolence expenses. As a result, councils reduced their already-lean budgets, some as much as 40%.
Educating the boards and the congregation about our strategic financial challenges.

Where does that leave us? Unfortunately, as you may have heard in a recent Ministry Moment, the areas that will be most affected are Worldwide Ministries and Outreach. This seriously impacts many, many organizations and communities both locally and abroad who have come to depend on our generosity. As a Session and as a Congregation, we simply cannot allow this to happen .

What next? For those of you who have already pledged or contributed in 2010, we thank you. But this year we need to do more. Along with Session, Stewardship Committee members have chosen to increase their pledge in response to this call and we ask you to Step Up, Step Forward and even Take the Next Step with your 2010 BMPC pledge. You can make a 2010 pledge or increase your existing pledge online at http://www.bmpc.org/bmpcpledge.htm or by emailing stewardship@bmpc.org.

The Session meetings to discern this issue will be a continual process of education and evaluation. We encourage everyone to attend the Annual Meeting on May 2^nd following the 9:30 service where there will be further updates and information.

As we move into our first full year of interim transition, a feeling of excitement is growing anew within BMPC. It is imperative we reestablish a strong financial footing for our church as we prepare ourselves for a vibrant future. Together, we can make that happen!

Faithfully yours,

James Carter Mark Hess Paul Bergsteinsson
Interim Pastor Chair, Stewardship Clerk, Session