April Financial Update
As a result of changing our financial calendar to match the program year, we are now coming to the end of our budget for our current period. For the first 5 months of 2021, we set a budget of $189,852. Over the course of the last months, we have determined that that budget was a bit high, and that our actual need for the end of May will be $177,352. So, to meet that budget, during the month of May we will need $40,305. One could look at this a couple different ways:
Each of our 101 giving units could give $399.06; or,
Each of our 189 church members could give $213.25; or,
Each of our 85 households could give $474.18; or,
Each of our 75 regular worshipers could consider giving $537.40.
What is important isn’t the way we divide it up—each of us have different giving capacities; instead, what is important is that each individual considers how God is inviting them to pour out their love by giving generously of their treasurers.
One of the reasons we believe we have seen a dip in giving in the last year is because so many of us are celebrating and in awe of the amazing gift given by Alex and Eunice Sharipen. The Sharipen Bequest Taskforce and Session encourage everyone to remember that for the time being we do not intend to use these funds to sustain our general operating budget. Instead, we plan to use these funds to participate in God’s ever-expanding mission through new ministry and mission initiatives of Hopewell Presbyterian.
One way you can see this play out in is in the most recent announcement from the Sharipen Bequest Taskforce and Session. Jamie Sapoch announced on Sunday that $41,500 of the Sharipen Bequest will be used to launch a new mission that is being called the Hopewell Youth Collective. This new organization will provide a way for Hopewell Presbyterian and the rest of the churches in the Hopewell Council of Churches to support the youth in our area. For this next year, the launch grant will fund $10,000 program budget for the Hopewell Youth Collective as well as 15 hrs/week of the work of the Director of Youth Outreach. While these 15 hours might grow into more as the Hopewell Youth Collective grows, 10 hrs of this (currently) 25hr/week position will be dedicated to HPC specific programing (think about things like Sunday school for our children, confirmation class, and the much beloved HPC youth retreats). Funding for the HPC specific portion of the job will come through our General Operating Budget, meaning that this incredibly important work will be supported through you and your tithes and offerings.
This past Sunday, one of our youth, Haley Yingling, reminded us:
"Three of the ways we can spread the love of God to our neighbors is by sharing our time, talents, and treasures. By doing so, we can hopefully inspire our neighbors to share theirs and then inspire their neighbors to do the same.”
We all encourage you to consider the ways in which Alex & Eunices’s unexpected gift encourages you to give so that we can continue to share God’s love with our neighbors and inspire them!
Doug Robbins, Treasurer
Rev. Melissa Martin, Pastor
