Good Shepherd Family,
This is an update with some good news about our finances and about Next Level Innovations (NLI).
We are happy to share that we finished 2019 in the black. Meaning we took in more money than we spent according to our budget. The budget for 2020 was approved by the Church Council and it is ambitious at $600,000 which is $52,000 more than the 2019 budget. Good Shepherd, you are giving yourself away and pledges for 2020 look great! Additionally, we have received a grant from the conference to help with funding for Indian Church RVA. We are confident that we can meet this ambitious budget with this grant and an increase in pledges. Thank you for all that you are doing to support the ministries of Good Shepherd.
Keeping track of the money is a lot of work and we’d like to thank Jim Branscome and Carol Walker who volunteer to handle the day-to-day finances to make sure that we are fiscally responsible with the resources that God has provided.
We’d also like to give you an update on Next Level Innovations (NLI) first introduced in January. NLI is like the visioning work that we have done in the past. NLI will help us to discern the direction of Good Shepherd for the foreseeable future and will help us discern how to better serve our community through our missions and ministries. Your input and participation is necessary because this is your faith community.
Please add these key dates to your calendar:
Ministry Focus Event
-Thursday, May 21 from 6-8 p.m. This will be an opportunity to learn about all the ministries in which we are currently involved. We will celebrate the positive impact our ministries are having, identify gaps, and identify ministries that aren’t as effective as they used to be. We’ll discuss where we are strong and where we have some opportunities.
Innovation Weekend
- November 13-15. During this weekend, an Innovations Team from the Richmond District and Conference, will be here to interview staff, leadership and the congregation. Throughout this year, we are compiling information about the rich history of Good Shepherd to share with the Innovations Team. On Sunday, November 15, the Innovations Team will present the Innovations Report for our church. The Innovations Report will give us 3-5 innovations that can help Good Shepherd go from “good to great”. We will have one worship service that day so that we can all hear the report together. A meal will follow.
We will be sharing a lot more details about both of these events as they get closer but we need your engagement, so we want you to put these dates – May 21 and November 13 – 15 – on your calendars.
If you have any questions about Budget or NLI or please let us know.
Grace and peace,
