November – Budget Increases Welcome to the November Finance column. Today I will explain budget increases we will have to negotiate for 2019. As you know, the Finance committee is very tight when it comes to allocating our scarce dollars – we want every outlay to go towards our primary mission to make Disciples of Christ, and toward the causes that Jesus himself supported, highlighted in our support to help people with their addictions, meet their basic needs, and show the community our love in his name. You may have learned that it's expensive to maintain a church building and staff, but it's the bedrock of our community programs, ministries, and missions. Pastor Rich put it well "People need to understand that this has to be our first priority because it is the engine that drives our ability to be in mission and ministry as a church." I will detail the changes for 2019 (and what we've experienced in the second half of 2018.) We've increased our accessibility and our space, and some of our programs are putting that space to good use. For example, I volunteer at the Circles Greater Nashua program that our church hosts. Circles GN uses the kitchen, vestry, and rooms in the Wesley wing. It really facilitates moving to the different rooms without having to put on jackets and going outside in the parking lot. (As predicted, our new space is making such programs possible!) However such space incurs extra expenses in maintaining. Such costs include about $18,000 to maintain the elevator, utilities, irrigation, and security. We've added about $9000 for additional janitor hours. It might be tempting to try to get away with less maintenance since the facility is new, and try to spread out our existing janitor to cover the new space. That would be uninviting to any new patrons or visitors when they would notice a general unkempt experience. I've learned my lesson here. We've also added to the budget for basic childcare during some of our community sessions, a key enabler for attracting young families to our church. We've had other increases such as mission shares by about $3500, health insurance for over $2000, and miscellaneous expenses. These expenses described so far require our giving to increase about 8%. Instead of insisting on a percentage increase, we've tied it to our 150th anniversary. Please consider giving $150 dollars more a year, quarter, or month to help us meet our ministries and missions. Finally we've discussed adding a position to serve youth or inter-generational needs. The right person hired into this position would do wonders for church growth. However I could not ask the whole congregation to fund such an increase when I'm already asking for your generosity for the items above. Instead, I am appealing to those so drawn to the cause and able to support in an extra-mile giving effort to a general fund Loaves and Fishes campaign. I will discuss more about that in a future column. As always, we are here to serve regardless of one's ability to contribute toward our missions. Please consider your time, talent, and tithe in your give-back to God and our missions. With thoughts, prayers, and especially thankfulness for your commitment and generosity.
Very truly yours – Joe Dechene | 
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