Middlebury Finance Committee

A temporary change in finance committee work is being transitioned to two good folks who stepped up to fill in the work of the Middlebury Church Treasurer and the Financial Secretary positions.

Our faithful Treasurer, Julie Coons, has temporarily stepped aside to have more time as her family deals with some medical issues. Rik Poduschnick has graciously agreed to be the acting Treasurer. By taking on this job, Rik has turned over his work as Financial Secretary into the very capable hands of Eileen Rinker, who has agreed to return to this position, after doing this work for many years.

The committee is very fortunate to have these well qualified and willing workers on board. When you see these two fine folks, and also Julie Coons, please thank them and wish them well and give them your support.

I believe we are off to a good financial start for 2012. This is the first time in recent memory that we actually had a good starting balance in the check book, and all the bills up to date, at the start of the new year.

Please keep up the good work!

Blessings and thanks to all who made the sincere effort to pay their pledges on time, and continue to support the church ministries in this vital and meaningful way.

Margaret M Klohck
Chairperson of Finance

JOHN WESLEY’S RULE
(1703-1791)

Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.
 

December Middlebury Finance News

As we come to the end of 2011, I want to thank our church family for your on-going generous support for the important Ministries we share through our church, and beyond. I feel the love and commitment among our folks, as they manage to keep up the financial pledges they made for 2011, and continue to make for 2012, for our work in Christ. This loving commitment shows through in many ways as we work together as Jesus hands, feet and voice in our community, state, nation and the world.  The ministries of which you are a part, through your time, talents and gifts, are significant. The things that are accomplished are amazing and DO make a difference.

We do still have some financial challenges, but I believe we are going to end 2011 in somewhat better shape than in previous years. This is due to your faithfulness to the ministries of your church.

For the upcoming year of 2012, I see great hope to maintain, and even increase our resources, as we go forward. As of Sunday, December 19th, we have received 29 pledges totaling $58,020. This is ahead of the pledges received at this time last year. We know that some other pledges are still to come in, and we see reaching our $65,000 goal as a serious possibility.

If you have not made a pledge yet, please consider being a part of this important part of our ministry.  A $5 or $10 weekly commitment would be a wonderful act of faith toward the future of our work together. If there was ever a time to be part of this important work, it is now. Our work is a light of hope to folks to carry on, even through what can be challenging times. While the economy is reportedly recovering, it is far from a reality for a lot of our church folks and our neighbors. It is our charge, as people of God, to serve in all the ways we can.

Blessings to all for our New Year together.

Margaret Klohck
Finance Chairperson

November Middlebury Finance News

Hello folks,

We just had the 2nd Sunday of our Stewardship Campaign (with many folks away for the holiday weekend).  I feel very encouraged by the pledges received.  As of Sunday, November 27, 2011, we have received 20 pledges for 2012 totaling $47,842.  This is a great start.

New and exciting things are happening in the Middlebury UMC.  I believe we want our ministries, within the church and beyond into our community, to flourish in 2012. We have many opportunities to be in ministry and share our love for God far and wide, when we all give of our resources. This is not just in financial ways, but also through our volunteer work, our time, our outreach, our worship and our caring spirit.

As we decorate our homes and our church home, let us give thanks that we have these resources to be a blessing.  If you haven't had the opportunity to send in your pledge card for 2012, please remember to do so.  Planning for the future is much easier if we know how everyone is going to participate. 

If you have already pledged, thank you and bless you. If you haven't sent in your commitment yet, thank you for your consideration and bless you as well.  We are coming toward the end of 2011.  I pray that we will meet all our commitments for this year, and look with hope and love to serving God together in 2012 and beyond.

Happy Advent as we look forward to Jesus coming into our midst again. We are so blessed.

                                                                                            Margaret Klohck
                                                                                            Middlebury Finance Chairperson

• Who taught you about being generous?
• What have you taught others about being generous?
• When have you received a generous gift from another?
• Where have you seen God’s abundance in your home, in your congregation, and in your community?

This year’s stewardship commitment theme is based on 1 Corinthians 16:1-4: “Now concerning the collection for the saints: you should follow the directions I gave to the churches of Galatia. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn, so that collections need not be taken when I come. And when I arrive, I will send any whom you approve with letters to take with your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.”

You will soon be receiving a letter with a pledge card enclosed. Please prayerfully consider your gift to the church for 2012. We would like to be able to do more for the members of our congregation and community, but it all depends on our ability to be generous givers. In this difficult financial time, people are anxious and do not necessarily have the same ability to share as they have in the past. But this also means that the needs around us are greater.

We will hear from members of the congregation in both churches about what stewardship and giving generously mean to them. And on November 20, Thanksgiving Sunday, we ask that you return your pledge cards to be placed on the altar during worship. God will bless our gifts and multiply them for God’s purpose.

News from the Finance Committee

I never thought that I'd say this out loud, to say nothing of "in print", but I am feeling revitalized and optimistic about our church life and service in the year to come - 2012. It is the season of Thanksgiving for all our blessings. I consider my "church life" within an active, caring community of faithful folks, to be one of the biggest blessings of all.

There are so many special things going on in our church. We share with others in need. We work within AND outside our church walls, being the hands and voice of Jesus. When I asked in an early summer newsletter for your faithful stewardship to help keep up with our expenses, especially during the summer months, you responded generously. Thank you so much!

We were able to catch up, in part, by being able to pay $3,000 toward our Mission Shares to New England Conference. I feel that was stewardship of the highest order - from your hearts.  I have a sense of joy, as I feel everyone's interest in our church moving on to fulfill God's mission - in our church, community, and far beyond - maybe as far as heaven! Pastor Elisabeth is working hard with the youth group and they had a very successful spaghetti supper and silent auction, raising a significant amount of money for the Vermont Flood Recovery Program. Many thanks to all youth and adults who cooked, and/or donated services and goods to the auction. ( I, personally, am really looking forward to a homemade pumpkin pie that I "purchased" in November.) This event brought out many of our church families and it was A LOT of FUN. (Just ask Norma Duclos and Donna Doty!)

With the season of Thanksgiving comes the season of Stewardship. I feel that season started last summer with your response to my "summer help" reminder, our new programs (Contemporary Worship/Wednesday evenings), and events (the above mentioned youth group supper and auction), and many new things that are fulfilling some important things on our spiritual wish lists. The annual stewardship campaign is soon to arrive, with the actual day of dedication set for Thanksgiving Sunday.

It is NOT all about the money, as important as that is to support our ministry in this place. It's about relationships, working together and our lives together to serve in God's world and among
God's people. What an opportunity and blessing to be able to do that with our ministry of time, talents, gifts and OUR DREAMS!

Please DREAM about how you might participate fully in all the areas of our church. The stewardship campaign theme for this year is "SAINTS ALIVE! LIVING GENEROUSLY!"and I truly feel that is who we are as a church family!

Blessings,
Margaret Klohck,
Finance Chairperson

Good News! From Middlebury Finance

It is time to share some good news with our church families. The first item is the results, up to this date, of our request for contributions to replace half the parsonage roof (the other half is fine). The cost of this work is $4,200. We have received $5,232 so far, including the generous response of $2,100 from the folks at the East Middlebury Church. They went over their financial allotted 25% of shared parsonage expenses, and provided half of the roof amount. As we total up the numbers, it is apparent that we could not have met our goal without this contribution.

When we wrote the letter asking our church family for this funding, we voted that any money that was over the amount needed for the roof would go into the parsonage fund. This fund, used for necessities that come up for the parsonage, is sadly depleted. There used to be a line item in the regular annual Middlebury church budget to put funds into this parsonage account. It is my understanding that this has not been an item in the church budget in some years. So, the balance of the contributions, $1,032 will be a welcome and necessary addition to this account. Some of the previous balance was expended during the recent pastoral transition for carpet cleaning and drapery dry cleaning, etc, with other supplies being donated by volunteer workers. I think it is important that folks realize there is a lot "giving" going on, quietly behind the scenes. All the folks that helped financially and as volunteers really deserve "stars in their crowns". Many thanks to all!

Item number two of good news, is that we had been told to expect a monumental increase of 39% in the cost of our church building insurance, as of August 1st. We were stunned and upset about this possible percentage increase. BUT, we received a letter from the New England Conference Insurance folks this past week telling us that after a lot of hard work on their part, they have found a new insurance carrier, and the increase is only 4%. Hallelujah !!!

As we go into the fall, we still face some serious gaps in our regular budget. Please consider this in your prayers and hearts, especially as the heating season approaches. At the end of the year, we have to consider how we are going to meet our budget obligations. NONE of us likes to have to consider using our special savings account (the Arnold Fund, etc), so now is the time to be thinking how we can meet our budget without doing that. We would welcome your suggestions and help. I will try to give you a regular budget update in the next newsletter. Blessings to all !

Margaret Klohck
Finance Chairperson

Endowment for Middlebury Church

Most people think endowment money is for tomorrow - Not So!!

Each year our Frontier Fund builds interest usually 4-7% and of that we have asked for 3.5% to be returned to our church.   This year the 2010 fund is paying currently  $1008 toward the budget and $300 to the Jeremias mission fund for work in Mozambique.

An Important “Church Family” Discussion

Our Church Family is facing some difficult times, and needs your participation to deal with some important issues.

The issue that needs our attention first is the need to replace the parsonage roof and pay the moving expenses of our new, incoming pastor. This problem solving process is starting with a COMBINED meeting of the Middlebury Trustees and the Finance Committee on Monday, June 6, 2011, to discuss large, necessary expenditures. This situation must be dealt with in a timely manner. We currently do not have any money in the budget to deal with these expenses. This cost will be somewhere in the vicinity of $10,000 to $11,000, for these EXTRA non-budgeted items.

Part 2 of our serious concern is that last fall we voted for a budget for $65,000, in faith, to run our church for 2011, and received pledges that total approximately $58,000. So right off the bat, we started out with a shortfall of $7,000. Though folks are faithfully paying their pledges, this is just not working. We are currently looking at a year-end deficit of about $8,000.

At a recent meeting of finance leadership, we went over our 2011 budget, line by painful line, and became aware that we are down to bare bones. The further frustrating part is that we cannot meet our monthly bills, and are having to choose who gets paid first, while deferring our other obligations until the next month. These are our "local" bills (fuel, power, etc), with our neighborhood businesses. In addition, NOTHING has been paid for our 2011 obligations to the New England Conference for our "mission shares" (formerly called "apportionments”). All our prayers and good ideas are needed as our church family addresses these serious concerns together.

Many good folks have come forth and helped with a series of pancake suppers, and the soup and salad supper, and other fundraising ideas and efforts. These are VERY much appreciated. Fund raising ideas are important and we have great fellowship when we do these creative projects, but the bigger picture tells us that we need to restructure our budget, so as to meet our expenses. These extra activity fundraisers should be going for special needs and missions, not to try and pay our fuel and power bills, etc. That is what the budget is supposed to cover, and that is not happening now.

This is a total church family process, not just the work of a committee or two. We, as a church family, have to come together to work on the broader picture, for this year, and more importantly, our church's future.

Our expenses are more than our income. This is definitely not working, nor is it sustainable.  In order to meet our obligations, in the past, including the year ending 2010, we have had to use some of the PRINCIPAL money from the Arnold Fund and other resources. Consequently, the base principal of this fund is eroding. The lower the principal goes, the less interest we have for our budget, which has been an important part of our annual budget.

Please talk to any of the Finance Committee members, or Administrative Council members with your ideas, input and mutual support, as we gather as a church family to help deal with these serious concerns.

Prayerfully,
Margaret Klohck, Finance Chairperson

At the April meeting of the Finance Committee, we affirmed the vote of the Endowment Committee to transfer our endowment funds from the Frontier Investment Group of New York to the New England Endowment Group. Several members of the Endowment Committee had questions about the possible new account, and so Lee Adkins asked Gary Melville of the New England Group to come and share information with us about the benefits this transition and answer any questions the members might have. Gary met with us on Monday, April 4, 2011 and shared many documents and information with those in attendance. The information from this meeting was incredibly helpful and enlightening, and we voted unanimously to move the endowment funds to the New England Endowment Group. If anyone has any questions, they should see Lee Adkins for information.

-  Margaret Klohck, Finance Chairperson

We have begun to use electronic debits to our checking account for our portions of the pastor's pension and health insurance, saving a small percentage by doing so.

A few of our groups and committees have several small accounts. Some of these accounts have been open for many years. We encourage our groups and committees to see if it would be to their advantage to consolidate some of their accounts.

The Endowment Committee meeting scheduled for March 7 was postponed because of the snowstorm. This meeting has been rescheduled for April 11. We will be discussing the possibility of moving our Endowment Fund to the United Methodist Foundation of New England, since we are now a part of the New England Conference. (See related article)

We would like to remind everyone that if you have not yet made a pledge for the year 2011, it is not too late to do so. Your pledge is always important to us, because it is important to have a projection of anticipated income to prepare our yearly budget. You can increase or decrease your pledge at any time if your circumstances change.

Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough?

- I Corinthians 5.6b

Like your expenses at home, the expenses incurred at the church are very ‘lumpy’. In the winter months, expenses are at their highest in Middlebury because of the fuel that is needed to heat the building. In the summer months, there are very few bills besides those that come year round. Ideally, we would save up enough during the warm months so that we would have extra on hand for the lumpy, cold months. Despite our most recent efforts, we have not been able to save quite enough. Thank you to two anonymous families who have agreed to raise their 2011 pledge by 10% right away in order to help defray the costs that are being incurred right now.

When the quote above was written to the Christians in Corinth, the author was expressing concern about bad behavior affecting the whole community. But I’d like to flip this scripture’s meaning as I apply it to our church community and suggest that the good leaven, or yeast, can help the whole lump of dough rise and rise well. There may be others of you who have the capacity to match your brothers and sisters and increase your giving in these times when so many are more strapped financially than they have been in a long time. When you join in this generosity, the whole lump of dough rises and we all live in gratitude.

Financial News Update

The Middlebury Church Finance Committee wants to keep everyone up-to-date on our current financial status.

Due to several factors, we have ended the 2010 year with a $5,000 deficit. Much of this is due to our fuel costs. The troubled economy has also played a part in this shortfall. Due to this fact, several of our good and faithful givers have found themselves in unfortunate and different circumstances than when they made their good-faith pledges for the 2010 year. We know that some of our church family has been touched by our economic environment, and want to hold all those in our prayers.

We feel we have been blessed by the graciousness of Bill Heffernan of Champlain Valley Plumbing and Heating, who is our fuel supplier. He has waited for fuel oil payments without charging us late fees, and worked with us when we struggle to pay our fuel bills which, of course, are substantial. We currently owe the December fuel bill. We are very grateful for his caring response to our need for help.

In order to pay our end-of-year obligations we had to make the difficult decision to dip into the Arnold Fund for the first time in 3 years. As many of you are aware, the Arnold Fund was established by the family of Don and Peggy Arnold, after their tragic deaths in November of 1994. The intention of this fund is to help sustain the Middlebury UMC’s finances in a way that would provide income to offset the loss of the regular pledged giving of Don and Peg.

The Middlebury church has been faithful and careful stewards of this generous gift, and does not use it unless absolutely necessary. We certainly hope that we can raise more income through more pledges and any special gifts that folks can afford to give.

Any gifts designated as a special offering for the fuel fund would be WARMLY appreciated.

Our current receipts for the first four weeks of January total $6,236.95. Although this sounds like a lot of money, it does not match our expenses.

As your finance committee, we feel that people can’t rise to the “occasion” if they don’t know there is an “occasion”. Our plan, therefore, is to keep everyone knowledgeable about our finances and circumstances on a monthly basis in the newsletter.

- Blessings to all as we move together into 2011.
Margaret Klohck
Finance Committee
 

Mission Share Giving:  What is it?  Why is it important?

Mission Share Giving is the New England Annual Conference term given to the money our congregation gives to the larger United Methodist Church for all of the ministries that are listed below.  The term includes both what we used to call Apportionments and what we used to call World Service and Conference Benevolences when we were members of Troy Annual Conference.  Reading below about what this money does is the best way to understand what it is and why it is important.

In addition to the conference answers below, please remember that because of mission share giving, we have received monetary assistance (called equitable compensation) for East Middlebury's and Ripton's portion of the pastor's salary for the last five years.  We also received a grant in the amount of $2000 this past year for our work with Charter House, one of the newer transitional housing options for young families in Middlebury.  The Mozambique missionary with whom we have a covenant relationship, Jeremias Franca, is supported by the mission share giving, as was our pastor's full scholarship plus stipend when she attended a United Methodist seminary over ten years ago.   Of course, these immediate connections to the greater connection of mission share giving are really just the tip of the iceberg.  Read this list and discover all the ways your gift keeps on giving.

Mission Share Giving: What’s in it for our church?

Trains lay speakers, subsidizes seminary education for your clergy, provides youth ministry, provides health benefits for retired and disabled clergy and families, helps start new churches, helps identify grant money for churches, provides consultants for churches, stewardship training, develops curriculum for Sunday School, provides scholarships, develops Disciple Bible Study, trains and develops missionaries, provides counsel for treasurers and trustees, maintains resource library, appoints a pastor to your church, administers pension and health benefits and local church insurance programs, works for an inclusive denomination, provides equitable and strategic compensation to pastors, supports 3 camps and a conference center, holds annual conference sessions, and much, much more.

Mission Share Giving: What’s in it for others?

Undergirds UMCOR so that disaster relief can be delivered, funds Health Clinics, sends out 1,812 missionaries around the world, supports urban ministry in Boston, Lynn, Lawrence, Portland, Worcester, Providence and more, supports rural ministries throughout New England, helps send Volunteers in Mission throughout the US and abroad, supports covenants with West Angola Conference and la Iglesia de Cristo en Nicaragua, supports Africa University, advocates for a living wage, helps women experiencing crises, opposes use of landmines, works to eradicate racism, feeds hungry children and families in our Conference and beyond, supports economic ministries in Western Maine, supports ministries to college students, advocates for our environment, opposes the death penalty, opposes legalized gambling, provides scholarships for students around the world, funds 225 retirement homes, 70 hospitals, 8 two-year colleges and 13 seminaries and much, much more!

- Submitted by the Middlebury Finance Team

Giving is an amazing process because it violates common sense, which tells us if we let go we will have less not more. Giving, though, lifts us out of ourselves; we take our eyes off our rights, our problems, and our stuff. That new view gives us renewed vision and hope. Giving is powerful.

You have More Than Enough only when you give it away. Give of yourself, of your time, and view your wealth as being managed for others. John Wesley, the great evangelist and founder of the Methodist Church, said, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

Prosperity may be a bigger test than poverty when it comes to exposing your weaknesses. Fear, worry, selfishness, and arrogance are all some people get with wealth, but they are not More Than Enough people. People who get More Than Enough turn the great misunderstanding into the greatest understanding. They get a firm grip on the fact that a firm grip on the money is not the path to happiness and fulfillment. True prosperity is not wealth, it is More Than Enough, which can include wealth, but must include the loose holding of that wealth.

The Middlebury UMC worship service on Sunday December 6th will include our own giving, stewardship celebration. At this service we will learn more about the “great misunderstanding.” Our own Alison Mehravari, Middlebury College Class of 2010, will offer one of her gifts—her singing voice—to this special service of celebration.

Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.

- Kahlil Gibran (source: Brainyquotes)

Mixing Time and People

Mixing time and people; is it possible to say there are three ways?

"Yesterday we did, today we are doing, and  tomorrow we shall." 

Past  -  Present  -  Future.   Not quite an accurate picture; we are all a mixture of the three.

Is your church the same mixture?  We have estimated a budget for tomorrow - 2008 and  we know that people of the church will help with salaries, heat, lights, maintenance and especially mission for others.  If you have not made an estimate of your giving, we are hoping you will send us your expectation for next year.  Another suggestion card can be mailed to you or picked up at church.  The report to the congregation on November 28th of  $48,000+ so far brought a “Hooray!” from the congregation that Sunday.  We are on our way.

Thanks for your prayers and support!!!!

- Stewardship leaders

Middlebury United Methodist Church Endowment Fund  offers individuals many possibilities for giving. 

“Dues” and don’ts of giving

• Don’t give until it hurts, give until you are happy with the gift.
• Dues are what we owe; we can never repay God for His gifts to us.
• Do think about yourself and your life practice of generosity.
• Don’t think about the church’s budget, remember how or when the church has been important to you.
• Don’t think about cash flow; that’s the financial committee’s problem. Think of the ministries the church does for children.
• Do think that the money you give to the church goes all over the world in the name of Jesus.

We have a silent partner in the life of the church ...

By Lee Adkins

We have a great Sunday School that brings Christian education to children and adults.  Our teachers are loyal volunteers, but they have a silent partner.

We have a wonderful pastor who leads our worship, but she also has a silent partner by her side.

When we help the poor and assist the world’s less fortunate people, the silent partner is there.

We believe the church should be doing many programs, but to do them we rely on a silent partner.

And what is this silent partner?—the gifts and pledges we make to the church.  In November we will ask each other, “How strong do we want this silent partner to be now and in 2007?”