1. ME stands for Ministry Executive.

2. 37% of our giving arrives in November & December. Our fiscal year ends December 31.

3. The average annual pledge is $6,657!

4. Almost 70 of us who pledged last year have not ‘yet’ pledged this year.

5. Our utility expense this year will exceed $108,000.

6. Our comprehensive insurance costs $81,500.

7. Our Missions budget is well over a half a million dollars.

8. We have secured our Mother’s Day Out/Childhood hallway and entrances with magnetic locks and card readers, significantly increasing our ability to protect our children.

9. We hired security consultants to assist us in developing a campus-wide security plan which the Session has approved in principle.

10. The Session also approved a Safety and Security Committee to continue our efforts to substantially improve our ability to respond to emergencies of all kinds.

11. We hired an architect to design portions of this plan as part of a Master Campus Plan.

12. We have increased the presence of Baton Rouge police officers on our campus during Sunday worship.

13. When you give to your church you are part of all of this and so much more.

 

If you connect the dots on this baker’s dozen, you’ll note that we have a lot going on. Balancing our budget is mandatory. Our challenges in doing that are significant. Security and safety are increasing in priority. Yet our mission to be a loving, caring congregation remains our vision. We continue to base our faith and life on the Scriptures. Our desire to help others become devoted followers of Christ through prayer, friendship, invitation and witness has not changed, in fact, it has deepened. 

 

God’s will for us is to be thankful in everything, to pray without ceasing and to rejoice evermore. All of this we can do in Christ Jesus. So in our planning, in our doing, in our giving and in our worship let’s pray and rejoice as we participate in God’s economy. In this way we demonstrate our gratitude to him for his great gift to us.