In March WELS leadership encouraged congregations to apply for a Payroll Protection Plan (PPP) forgivable loan under the CARES Act. The COS church council decided to act on the encouragement and  recently secured a PPP loan. The funds are being used for payroll expenses, mortgage interest and utilities, which makes them 100% forgivable.  

While member offerings have been amazingly generous, the church has nevertheless experienced a loss of income.  Preschool tuition for April and May were waived due to mandated class cancelations, loose plate offerings (cash offerings received without a contribution envelope) have not been gathered since the suspension of in-person worship, etc.  It is also not unreasonable to expect negative impacts on preschool enrollments in the fall and offering levels for the foreseeable future. The PPP forgivable loan better positions us to navigate the months ahead.

Click here for last month's financial report.  Income was down in comparison to the same month last year.  Half of the reduction was due to preschool tuition being waived, the other half due to lower offerings.  Expenses were also down in comparison to the same month of the prior year. The net result was a slight operating deficit.  The $67,600 PPP forgivable loan is included in the $324,426.64 balance shown in our checking/saving accounts (cf p. 1 of linked report).