Budgeting in the Wilderness
As we start a new church year and wrap up the calendar year, the staff and Council are working hard on preparing the 2022 budget for consideration and approval by the congregation at the annual meeting early in the new year. Our process involves identifying and evaluating giving and expenses from this year; commitments we’ve made as a congregation; anticipated circumstances of the upcoming year; and needs that may arise. This time around, we’re involving the congregation more and earlier in the process – after all, our constitution places ownership of the budget with the congregation – and your input is vital to the success of the current effort and ensuring a sustainable ministry at Phinney over the long-term.
At the November 14 adult forum, the Council shared the fundamental dilemma posed by this year’s budget process: though giving in 2021 has remained on par with 2020, it has yet to increase by the 20% called for in our aspirational 2021 budget, which is the level needed to fund the staffing discernments the congregation has made over the last few years. While this situation is not catastrophic due to some unexpected income from an insurance rebate, a surplus in the Preschool’s budget, lower expenses due to staff vacancies, and Phinney’s substantial savings, it does raise a serious question of sustainability at current giving and staffing levels.
Like many congregations, we run a tight budget with staff constituting the majority expenses on the parish side (~75%). We also rely heavily on tithes and offerings to fund our parish budget, normally representing about 87% of anticipated income. In 2021 tithes and offerings are 95% of our budgeted parish income. Another significant area of income, facility fees, has been very limited during the pandemic. The endowment funds “special projects,” many of which would be in the budget if our income were higher.
Considering all of these factors, the Council wonders: what are the opportunities to shape the 2022 budget in a sustainable way? In what ways is our financial situation affected by COVID and in what ways is it structural? Does the congregation as a whole have the capacity to give at the amount needed to sustain our current staffing level? What adjustments are needed to ensure long-term sustainability?
The staff and Council are looking at both the big-picture forest and the smaller-scale trees (our individual ministries) to develop and, ultimately, recommend to the congregation a responsible budget. As we immerse ourselves in this process, we welcome and humbly request your input. Please reach out to a Council member or staff by email, phone or when you see us in person at Phinney with creative ways to be community and church together in a financially sustainable way. And watch for upcoming opportunities for further conversation or participation in the budget process and discernments that have budgetary implications.
As you engage with us in developing and discerning the 2022 budget, we also ask that you review your giving in 2021. If you are behind on your pledge for the year, now is the time to fulfill that commitment. If you are able to give more (especially if it would be 20% more than your offering in 2020), we are grateful in any way you can help us close the substantial gap between giving this year and the aspirational budget approved by the congregation. Together, in Christ, we can do this.
Brian Gruber
Council President