GENEROSITY

A QUALITY LIKE UNSELFISHNESS. SOMEONE SHOWING GENEROSITY IS HAPPY TO GIVE TIME, MONEY, FOOD, OR KINDNESS TO PEOPLE IN NEED. SO BEING GENEROUS IS BEING A BLESSING TO SOMEONE ELSE.

The fall season brought several generosity opportunities to our congregation. 

One of them was a new one called Rake & Run where we raked the yards of church members or people in the community. We had 10 church members participate and raked the yards of two families. Check out the video by tapping below.

Of course, we had our annual Pumpkin Patch run by our Student Ministries. This event is well known in the community as many people know us as the church with the pumpkins. The funds raised by this activity support student mission trips. This year we had 119 generous people provide 658 hours of their time to the patch over 32 days with a total of $16,700 of profit to support our students! 

The Come to Me Food Pantry had their annual Thanksgiving Food Drive. This ministry is a great blessing to help the food insecure population of Hamilton and surrounding counties supported by our community and our church. This year they collected almost 30,000 pounds of food in total with 4,300 pounds of that total coming from our church members.

During the Christmas season there were many opportunities to provide gifts and support to those less fortunate in our community. Families were supported by various groups around the church. Fishers United Methodist Church also partnered with Cumberland Road Elementary school to provide Christmas presents to students in need through The Gift of Christmas Program. Our generous congregation provided 148 gifts to this program.

In addition to these ministries that supported our community, our church had the opportunity to provide a location to the First Korean UMC to hold services weekly in our church building to be able to minister to Korean families in the northern Indianapolis suburban area. 

From the Missions budget of our operating fund we made a $3,000 donation to support the church that Eddie Mathews and his family (former members of our church) served while in Mexico. The church needed money to aid in the building of their new church, which doubles as the community’s hurricane shelter.

Please see a summary for 2023 and 2022 for the operating fund below:

The above numbers are for the operating fund which do not include any amounts received or spent for any of the separate designated funds of the church. The revenues for 2023 are 1.4% higher than 2022. Expenses for 2023 are slightly less than 2022 and are less than the 2023 budgeted expense amount. During 2023 the church received a $59,000 ERC tax credit which is a one-time credit for continuing to retain and pay our employees during the pandemic. This revenue is not included above to make the amounts comparable between years.

As with any organization some expenses are regular and predictable such as payroll and others can change substantially each month such as repairs and maintenance. Revenue for the church consists primarily of contributions which also vary as to when they are received from year-to-year. Additionally, the church uses the cash-basis of accounting meaning that it records its revenue and expenses when cash is either received or paid rather than when revenue is earned or expenses are incurred which can affect the comparability of amounts, between years.

Generosity comes in all shapes and sizes.

Explore these upcoming opportunities.

Perhaps you'll find one that speaks to you!