Dear Morning Star Family,
What a heartbreaking month it has been watching war develop in eastern Europe and seeing the devastation that is ongoing. Please be in prayer for our world and the millions of people who are suffering as a result of the invasion. In a recent Sunday morning service, we heard from Pastor Petr, Morning Star’s missionary to Latvia. He shared his vision for rescuing and caring for Ukrainian refugees. Morning Star, you have answered the call and to date you have given $50,358.56 to help with this crisis. Thank you for your generosity to help those in anguish. We’ll keep you updated and you will be able to continue to give to refugees as long as there is a need.
Here is the update from the first two months’ ministry giving in 2022. Please forgive me for missing this update last month.
JANUARY GIVING REPORT / MINISTRY FUND
Budgeted: $135,000
Actual: $124,434.23
Difference: -$10,565.77 (-7.82%)
FEBRUARY GIVING REPORT / MINISTRY FUND
Budgeted: $135,000
Actual: $131,043.43
Difference: -$3,956.57 (-2.93%)
2022 JANUARY-FEBRUARY BUDGET REPORT / MINISTRY FUND
Budgeted: $270,000
Actual: $255,477.66
Difference: -$14,522.34 (-5.37%)
Comments. Projecting giving trends for each month is an inexact science! We try to accurately project what will come in each month based on giving trends over the past three years. Although giving has started off slightly less than we projected, it was somewhat expected for us to witness a dip in finances after an extremely generous year-end giving season. Our finances are stable as we remain in a solid financial position. We are continually praying that God grows our resources for gospel impact in our community and around the world.
2022 BUDGET
The Elders have approved our 2022 budget that was built by our Financial Advisory Team, which includes me (Pastor John), Candy Escalante (our Financial Director), Bill Schutz (Elder), and Josh Gordon (Elder). For those interested, you can click HERE to get a budget overview. We are projecting a 1.87 million dollar budget, which is a 3% cut from what we budgeted in 2021. We are overjoyed that we were able to provide a 2% COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) to our entire staff to help them keep up with the escalating costs of inflation. Financially taking care of our staff is a top priority with the Elders and me as our staff continually and sacrificially lead and support so many important ministries.
GIVING. If you would like to partner financially with Morning Star Community Church in disciple-making work and/or set up automatic giving, you can do so by clicking HERE.
THANK YOU for your faithful prayers and generous giving. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
In all things, Jesus first!