From the Desk of Pastor Marsha
What’s Happening 6.27.24
Do you want to know where Zion is financially?
Coming up on July 14 we will be hosting another conversation addressing our rental properties and the pros and cons of potentially selling one, two or all three of them. No decisions have been made at this point. We have been gathering more information since our last meeting, to answer some of the questions we weren’t able to address at that time. As well as doing more research into mission, ministry and staffing ideas with the properties or the dollars from the sale of the properties. And finally, we are discussing, with the Finance and Property committees, what are upcoming potential expenses, for both the rental properties, but also our own building.
Our goal is to try and get a better financial picture of what our present and future needs are going to be in the next year, 3 years, 5 years and 10 years. Which we believe can be helpful in determining better the advantages and disadvantages of hanging on to or selling these properties.
One interesting piece of information, we gathered for the Finance committee, recently is our patterns of giving since 2015. For example, in 2015 we had 434 giving units at Zion. Meaning, either individuals or families who made contributions to Zion. That number has, as you can probably guess, significantly decreased in those 9 years. 376 in 2019, hence pre-covid, 324 in 2021, towards the end of covid, 278 in 2022, 243 in 2023 and 205 in 2024. That tells us a lot about who is still active at Zion and who isn’t.
While that is a dramatic decrease, Zion still has a generous budget, compared to many congregations in the ELCA and other main-line denominations. We still can do lots of ministry. We can still afford 10 staff people, though most with part-time jobs. We are still able to be generous in our mission giving, 25% of our budget goes out of our congregation to the community and beyond. Almost everyday people come into our building and ministry is happening. And I believe it is very likely that we will be able to continue to do ministry for many years to come. But some things have changed.
Whenever you have an Interim pastor, it is always a good time to stop and think about your future as a congregation. Also, any time there has been a significant change, it is good to think about the future. And we believe it shouldn’t just be the elected leadership, but everyone who wants to be a part of the conversation should have as much information as possible, so we can, together, make the best decisions possible. I encourage you to come July 14 if you are able, and to any other congregational conversations or meetings that share information about our potential future. So that your leadership, and really all of us, can work together to discern God’s plan for Zion in the years to come.
~Pastor Marsha
