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EESTI ELU reedel, 9. septembril 2022 — Friday, September 9, 2022
Nr. 36
(The following does not reflect the editorial position of Eesti Elu/Estonian Life whose responsibility is to inform readers of developments in the Estonian community. It has already been released online in EWR.)
St Peter’s Church – A new focus – Part 1 We have a plan to ensure the long-term financial sustain ability of St. Peter’s Church. We have divided our plan into three parts: 1. Value analysis and cost savings 2. Revenue potential of excess capacity 3. Events, member support, and donations We look forward to commu nity feedback in order to priori tize and establish a timeline to achieve financial sustainability. Part 1 We would like our church to be a living and caring part of our community, whose mem bers celebrate the Christian values that define us, and who nurture a culture of inclusive ness which embraces the whole family. As such St. Peter’s must have a purpose which is com munity focussed, with a spiritual growth that is relevant to our times. We are currently facing two problems: a decline in our congregation and impending financial shortfalls. The issues are inter-related. For several years, we have endeavoured to reverse the decline. We cannot, however, continue to do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result. Whether it be business or sports, if things are not going well, a dramatic change is re quired. Regardless of past loyal ties and achievements, we need a cultural change. This requires a reassessment of our manage ment, services, and our role in the community. It seems that the traditional services we have been pursuing are less relevant to today’s congregants. In busi ness when you no longer fulfill the expectations of your cus tomers they vote with their feet and move on. We are faced with the same issue. Our opinion survey points out potential directions for the church to pursue. The church is dependent on the product as defined by the minister, man agement as defined by the council and the facility as its identity. Management has the primary responsibility for en suring the financial sustain ability of the church. Effective management requires far more than filling a role and reciting annual statistics. Effective man agement requires a commitment and a passion for the job and a strategic perspective and ma nagerial skills that can deliver results. Good management does not hide from reality. Our priority is financial sustainabi lity and how to achieve it. The financial highlights for St. Peter’s Church – from the audited financial statements Dec 31/ 2021 Assets: • The church has capital assets
valued at $1,669,923 • The church has short term investments totalling $649,429 • The church has a columbarium trust fund of $79,088 Income: • The church has dividend income/unrealized gains equal to $54,277. • The church has a lease with the Salvation Army $8,000/ month till Feb 28, 2023. • Donations for which tax receipts were issued $78,393 • Current account revenues $270,986 Expenses: • Church upkeep $77,832 • Music – Organist /performers $18, 918 • Office expenses excluding staff $11,531 • Total employee compensation $138,185 • Depreciation expense $36,151 Total expenses $264, 989 • Excess of revenue over expenses before depreciation expense $5,996 Note 1. The church is a registered charity and as such, it does not pay taxes. De preciation is an accounting entry, which is useful in a for profit business. For our church, it does not contribute to an operating loss. Note 2. All registered chari ties file their detailed financial information based on their audited financial statements on form T3010 with the CRA. This information is public knowl edge and available to everyone on line. MANAGEMENT ACTIONS TO ACHIEVE FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY: We currently have a positive current account balance. This is primarily the result of a for tuitous happenstance of leasing the church to the Salvation Army at an above market rate of $96,000 per year paid for by Metrolinx. This lease expires in February 2023. This situation has led us to avoid analyzing our cost structure and consider ing ways and means to manage the congregation once this reve nue stream no longer exists. Value analysis and potential Cost Savings: The largest expenditure re ported to the CRA on form T3010 Registered Charity Information Return is a sum mary of compensation paid to all employees of St. Peter’s Church. This includes the com pensation paid to admin staff, cleaning staff and the minister. This is reported as $138,185.00 The executive council has proposed a budget approaching $80,000 for the pastor’s com pensation. Church attendance is averag ing 10 people per Sunday. For our congregation if the pastor conducts 45 services, it will cost us close to $1,800 per service. On the first Sunday in
August, there were only 6 people in church, including the pastor. Our church attendance does not justify the expense of a full-time pastor. Our impend ing financial shortfall makes it imperative to seek alternative solutions to carry on the congregation. Consideration has to be given to other options until such time as the attendance justifies a full-time person. One option is to consider a part-time ministry. We could seek out another congregation that is willing to share their pastor. This option is common practice with orchestra conductors. Another option is to use visiting pastors, both Estonian speaking and English speaking, for a year. This has the potential to provide a new perspective and create renewed interest on the part of our congregation. These visiting pastors would be paid a stipend up to $500.00 per service. In the first year we would budget $26,000 for this service. This arrangement would also allow us to tailor our services to the needs of the congregation, by reducing services in the summer vacation period. This practice is in effect now when the pastor is on extended vacation in Estonia. A contractual arrangement, however, pays for only services rendered. This would amount to a savings of up to $50,000 per year. The church would continue to have an office administrator who acts on behalf of the church council to schedule these visiting pastors. The church currently pro vides accommodation to the pastor in the form of a 3-bed room apartment in the church manse. Our financial statements do not reflect it as a benefit to the pastor. If this apartment was not required for the pastor, it would be a potential rental income for the church. This is a modern renovated apartment. Prior to renovation it was a four-bedroom apartment. This apartment is steps away from a Major Transit Hub at Eglinton and Mount Pleasant. At current market rates along with a parking spot it could be rented for approximately $3,500. per month. This would amount to an annual income of $42,000 per year. We have an impending short fall of $96,000 in 2023. If we are willing to consider servicing our congregational needs with either a part time ministry, or on a contractual basis, we would be able to match this shortfall with accrued savings and possible rental income. This is a very difficult course of action which we are all reluctant to pursue. However, financial circumstances dictate the prudent course of action. It merits our serious consideration. FRIENDS OF ST. PETER’S CHURCH
Photo: equip-bid.com
Language Lounge: “Kivi kotti!” Vincent Teetsov Global theatre traditions have taught us that explicitly wish ing someone well before a performance is a sure-fire way to make that performance go terribly wrong. Instead, a suitable replacement is “break a leg.” The Canadian arts publica tion Ludwig Van states that this saying first appeared in Robert Wilson Lynd’s article “A Defence of Superstition” in 1921. Lynd wrote of how wish ing someone luck in horse racing might actually bring about the opposite result. Then there’s the story of how British actor David Garrick continued to perform Shakespeare’s Richard III despite having fractured his leg, presumably setting the standard for a wholehearted, praiseworthy per formance. Boston Lyric Opera speaks of an equivalent phrase – “Toi, toi, toi” – said by opera singers as “an [onomatopoeic] imitation of the sound of spitting, done to ward [off] a hex or evil spirits.” Spitting against a lit candle could also blow smoke in the direction of those said spirits. In Italian, luck can be impar ted by saying “in bocca al lupo” (“in the mouth of the wolf”), and in Hungarian, “kéz- és lábtörést” (“hand and foot fractures”). When many cultures are breaking bones and fighting off demons, what is the Estonian solution? Stones! The saying “kivi kotti” (“a stone into [your] bag”) is Estonia’s contribution to a slew of euphemisms and other word trickery used to bring people luck. Asta and Katre Õim, formerly of the Eesti Kirjandusmuuseum (Estonian Literary Museum), explained that the idiom is something that was originally said to fishermen in Estonia when going out for a day of fishing, when the success of one’s work was thought to be dependent on chance. If you
went up to a fisherman on shore and said “Hey, I hope you catch lots of fish today”, there was enough reason to worry that somehow the fish in the water nearby would have heard what you just said, causing them to be extra vigilant and to avoid approaching any nets, boats, or bait. Instead, saying “kivi kotti”, thereby wishing them a day of stone catching, would make the fish complacent and bring about a successful day at sea. Wishing someone the opposite of what they want is meant to thwart bad luck. In English, a proverbial “bag of rocks” is associated with a burden you are carrying. Rather than signifying a mediocre catch of the day, writers in selfhelp and pop psychology genres use it as an analogy for things that are weighing down on us: personal battles, vices, and shortcomings. As American actor John Bay said, “Every body’s got a sack of rocks.” In sports, athletes sometimes run, hike, or blast through calis thenics with added weight, such as stones, put inside a back pack. While some argue that this causes bad form and puts excess strain on one’s joints, others say it develops shoulder and core strength. Perhaps then, we should also start accepting “kivi kotti” as a kind of compli ment. If someone says it when they see you exercising, then one could interpret it as “you appear to be exercising with such ease that you could carry stones with you and not be affected by it.” Then again, maybe those first seafaring uses of “kivi kotti” were a curse, to cause an enemy to truly only come back with a bag full of stones, be cause they had been a little too lucky out at sea lately. Estonians also have the va nasõna “nael kummi” (“a nail in your tire”) at their disposal to say “good luck.” But regardless of how innocuous or menacing these phrases can be, they’re in dicative of the human tendency to be superstitious about the impact of words on the future.
