Grace Voters’ Assembly Members:
On behalf of the Administrative Council, I pray you all are safe and trusting mightily in God during this time of pandemic uncertainty. We are all praying for a safe and timely reopening of Grace, so we may once again be together as a congregation.
As you are all aware, Grace has been thoughtfully and prayerfully managing our ministry activities, especially relative to our financial challenges; our cash flow is steady and giving has continued due to your faithfulness. We thank you for your consistency with your tithes and gifts.
This letter relates specifically to our financial planning for the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2020. Grace’s By-Laws require us to “hold a meeting during May for the approval of the budget…” Due to the COVID-19 challenges, we will not meet that timeline. The Staff has worked with Council to prepare a budget plan for next year; the virtual engagement process shown below will bring us to an action by the Voters’ Assembly on a proposed budget.
Current uncertain conditions impact our planning for Day School and Pre-School re-opening and enrollment, as well as staffing and re-opening other ministries. This budget plan will be based on the information we currently have, knowing that guidelines will change. All our effort is based on the knowledge that our ministry’s calling and purpose of serving our Lord Jesus is paramount in our focus.
With the social distancing restrictions we face, we are unable to meet in person to consider our new budget. We are planning a series of opportunities for you to engage in the budget process; including written information, a Zoom meeting to review the plan, and a video presentation responding to questions that may arise. All of which will be followed by voting on the budget.
Included with this letter is a summary of the proposed budget for 2020-21, and explanation of the changes from the current budget. For comparison purposes, the chart shows last-year’s budget outcome and current year-to-date revenue and expenses.
The schedule for congregational participation in the budget approval process is:
- May 20: Information and proposed budget distributed to Voters’ via email and/or US Mail.
- May 27: 6 PM Zoom Meeting to discuss the budget and receive questions from Voters
- May 29: Video presentation with Pastor Aaron, Treasurer Brian Miliate and Superintendent Ben Elliott responding to questions raised during the Zoom discussion
- June 1: Ballots distributed to Voters by electronic means and US Mail
- June 8: Deadline for voting either electronically or postmarked US Mail ballot
- June 15: Administrative Council certifies the election results
Thank you for your attention to this important part of Grace’s ministries, and for your prayer support as your leadership team works proactively to plan for reopening our ministries.
In His Name We Serve,
Jack Anderson, President
