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August 5, 2022
Dear Grace Commons family,
Thank you to everyone who was able to attend the Congregational Meeting on July 17 in person or online. (You can still access the Trustees’ Report, the overview of our financials, and our denomination’s guide to the pastoral search on our website.)
We received an excellent question about the status of our reserves at our Congregational Meeting. While the audited financials will be available upon request in October, Larry Drees and the Trustees have preliminarily closed the accounts on Ministry Year 22. The church’s reserves at the end of MY22 include:
- Donor Restricted Funds of $956,000, which are gifts that have been restricted by the donor for a specific purpose.
- Board Restricted Funds of $559,000 which are gifts that have been restricted by the Trustees for a specific purpose.
- Donor Advised Fund, which is held at the Grace Commons Foundation, which was approximately $467,000 as of March 31, 2022. A Donor Advised Fund allows the donor, in this case Grace Commons Church Trustees, to direct these funds for Christian purposes.
- The Boulder Vision Project Campaign has received $4,053,000 in cash towards a current pledged amount of $7,150,000; these funds are restricted for BVP use.
The total of these reserves is approximately $1,982,000, which is lower than some years, but still healthy for a church our size. The allocation of these reserves is the responsibility of the Trustees and Session, working with the Director of Administration and Operations to properly steward and manage how the funds are to be used, being guided by the donors’ wishes when appropriate.
Updates on the staff
The staff are in the process of orienting their strategies and ideas, and their teams and resources, to align with the ministry priorities and new budget. As Dave Pommer preached so well this past Sunday, discipleship is, in a very real sense, leadership. Dave gave some wonderful examples of discipleship from our own community and then encouraged us to get involved. Gen Z’s best route to Christ is through a loving relationship with a believer who cares about them and builds a relationship with them.
I have some additional staff transitions to tell you about, but, before I do, let me preface these announcements with some context. During transitional pastorates, it is normal for staff members to enter into a discernment process about their vocational future. Sometimes that leads to a new role with a deep sense of calling and a re-commitment to the mission of the church. A prime example is Kyle Rohan and Kelsey Walega who have begun their ministry as co-directors of our new ministry to young adults. Other times that discernment process leads to a staff departure. This month, we are seeing this transpire with three of our program staff. Matt McDonald has accepted a new position working with students at Rocky Mountain Christian Church. He will be here through the end of the month. Megan Gordon will also be moving on to new opportunities as she continues to grow in her career. Ash McDonald has already transitioned to a half-time position so she can begin to build her counseling practice. She will be with us through early November. Between now and then, Ash is helping to coordinate our 150th celebrations and is strategically focusing our welcoming ministry. I am grateful for each of these three people and the investment they’ve made in our ministries.
In case you wondered, these changes aren’t easy for me either, even though “transitional” is part of my title! I’ve come to love these people. In spite of it all, these are opportunities to trust the Lord and see how he provides. Time and time again, I am amazed at the solutions God provides. He loves you, Grace Commons, and isn’t letting you go.
Alan Balfe has discerned that God is calling him back into ministry with us. He has accepted the role of Interim Director of Student Ministry. Alan has served at the church for the past two years as an intern in both our student and college ministry and is well known to students and staff. Alan has made a similar commitment to the one Larry Drees made, namely, to serve for two years to allow for stability in our student and family ministry for the remainder of the transition and, Lord willing, the first year of the new lead pastor. We also have three interns who have joined our team this year: Nicolas Pedersen is back with us as a part-time student intern for another year, and Mattie Monsees and Caleb Randolph are interns in our college ministry. Matt, Alan and I are working on formulating a more detailed update about future programming which will be announced to middle and high school students in the very near future.
Updates on the Mission Study Team
In my previous letter, I talked about the process for searching for your next pastor. I introduced you to the Mission Study Team, a group of six people tasked by Session to 1) review the current state of our church, 2) understand the social and cultural context of our community, 3) identify key national trends in our society, and then 4) articulate a sense of future direction. This team has concluded their work and submitted their report to Session for review, right on schedule. In my view, they have done a superb job. Session will receive their report at their August meeting next Tuesday, and they will include it in the Session in Review section of our website after it is approved.
I continue to be amazed at our Father’s love and how he supplies all our needs.
In him,
Randy Bare
Transitional Pastor
Grace Commons Church
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