2023 Budget

2023 Annual Budget

Hello, Family of Faith!

Thank you so much for your generosity and faithful giving! As we prepared this budget, several people commented how fortunate we are to be in a strong financial position. This allows us to pursue God’s dreams for our church and the world.

The purpose of our budget is to allow the church to serve God in transforming individuals and the world. This year I have witnessed several great moments of transformation. There were big things like baptisms and Hollis’ ordination. But there were also several smaller moments when people gained new insights and made new connections as they grew closer to God and each other. We’ve transformed lives by getting people out of payday loans and brought hope in hopeless situations like disaster areas.

Of course, this year wasn’t anything new. It We celebrated Faith’s 60th anniversary with a documentary about our history that reminded us how transformational openness and service have been a part of our entire history. It is great to see how we are continuing the church’s legacy through things like our LGBTQ discernment process that reflected our heritage as a thoughtful and inclusive group of believers.

As we look forward to next year, this budget will allow us to have dreams and take chances as we seek to transform our lives and our community through the spirit of God. We have a capable staff, willing congregation, valuable space, and solid financial resources to really make a difference in the world around us as we share God’s love in a spirit of hope. I am so excited about the moments of transformation this budget represents and can’t wait to see how God uses it, and us, next year.

Thank you, William Reilly, Pastor

At Faith, we love our children and youth! This section of the budget is used to create classes and activities that allow our kids to develop their faith and grow closer to one another. We also support parents and families holistic faith development!

CHILDREN

The children’s ministry is continuing its goal of expanding our Godly Play curriculum through the purchase of new stories as well as training volunteers. This past year several volunteers were able to experience a Commuter Core training in Lexington and become certified Storytellers. We’ve also been able to purchase several more stories from the Old Testament specifically focusing on the Prophets. It was beautiful to watch the wonder on the children’s faces as they listen to the story of Elijah learning how he was fed by ravens and how God met him on the Mountain, not in the wind or earthquake or fire, but in the Silence. With the continued development of or Godly Play room we have also be able to share some of our materials with other churches helping them to explore and learn about Godly Play.

This year we were also able to do a family day retreat to Little Wing Hollow to spend the day in nature: canoeing, hiking, playing games, painting. It was fun to spend the day in God’s beautiful creation deepening our relationships with one another. It was a treat to watch the children play games with one another, the youth interacting with the youngest children laughing and running, and the adults sitting around catching up on life sharing struggles and praises. The day ended with a happy tiredness and a sense that God was present on that little hilltop.

This summer we were able to explore a new format in our programing with a weekly meeting time where the children were able to explore the Bible, play games, create and travel the world. It is a beautiful thing to experience a child feeling safe and welcomed even if just for a moment. It never fails to make my heart sing when a visiting child comes up to receive a hug goodbye. Because in that moment perhaps they have experienced the comforting peace and love that God has to offer all of us.

“Wow! I don’t know how Amanda is able to make simple things so extraordinary!”

YOUTH & COLLEGE STUDENTS

Youth and College Ministry at Faith Baptist is vital to the transformation and growth of teenagers and young adults from sixth grade through college. As students grow in their relationships with God they begin to find and understand purpose for their lives. They begin to understand and live out

Our programs, Bible studies, mission trips, events, and time together come out of our core practices at Faith. By engaging these practices students go from knowing the Bibles stories to applying them to their lives and living out their faith at school, home, and in their community. They are being transformed and they begin to transform the world around them through Christ’s love.

Our biggest programs revolve around Bible studies, Passport Camps, retreats, mission experiences, and playing together. Our Mission trip, our work with mission partners, Breakout Games, Family Retreat, and various retreats all strengthen our youth, families and build community.

Gathering together to share meals and serve, help our college students build community and allow them to step outside of their college world to impact the community around them.

Thank you for your generous giving. We are looking forward to exciting new opportunities in the next year with Passport and an educational/mission trip for youth, college and adults, and more programs that grow our faith and strengthen our families!

Expense

Expense

$500.00

$1,000.00

$5,370.00

$1,000.00

$630.00 $630.00

$2,000.00 $2,000.00

Minister

Minister $21,098.17 $23,677.89

$1,600.00 $1,600.00

$5,305.00 $5,305.00

Minister $21,247.92 $21,247.92

$6,000.00

$291.00

CONGREGATIONAL MINISTRY

Congregational Ministry is all about connecting people with God and each other. This section provides support for a wide array of all church and adult specific discipleship, worship, and fellowship activities. This is the money we use to provide care, worship God, build community, and make disciples for all ages of the church.

WORSHIP

While we returned to a more normal worship setting post COVID, that doesn’t mean it was just a return to what it used to be. We continue to ask how our worships might be spaces to encounter God through full partition in communal praise. Inspired by some of the things we learned during COVID, this year we ve seen an increase in congregational participation through different instruments, styles, and worship elements. We also continued summer backyard worships and a worship around a dinner table. In addition, we had special moments like our COVID remembrance service, Ash Wednesday worship, and Hope for the Holidays gathering, and a wonderful Easter where were able to gather together and sing loudly!

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

Christian Education happens primarily through ongoing small groups that meet on Sunday mornings and topic based class series that happen on weekday evenings. This year we added a new topic based Sunday morning option called “Just Sundays.” In addition to providing literature for our Sunday morning classes, we have also facilitated classes on the book of Exodus, human sexuality in the church, taking care of aging parents, and book studies of “The Rock, The Road, and The Rabbi” and “Falling Upward.” On Wednesday nights in the Spring we also hosted short presentations by congregants over things they were passionate about. In the coming year we hope to continue exploring if more regular options are needed while identifying shorter classes that help us learn about our faith and how to apply it in today’s world.

“When you miss a Sunday you miss a lot!”

“Faith is such a unique place because everyone is here for a reason. All of the people who are here want be here. They are here because this community matters to them. To their lives. That makes a special environment.

JOY (JUST OLDER YOUTH)

JOY group has been thrilled to participate in monthly meals and trips. We are recommending an increase in the Senior Adult Ministry budget to reflect the fact that they have started buying the meat for the monthly potlucks and hope to be able to continue offering monthly activities even as senior’s discretionary money shrinks. . Next year JOY hopes to explore other opportunities to build community among our senior adults.

CHURCHWIDE ACTIVITES

We love getting to share life together! We held familiar fellowship events like the Fall Kick Off, Fall Festival, and Virtual Winter Olympics, while also finding new ways to connect with activities like a Haiku Workshop, parade cookout, and service day at AMEN House. We also celebrated the church’s 60th anniversary with a night at the Theaters of Georgetown. This year we hope to continue providing space for congregants to make connections and have fun together.

2302 Literature $2,000.00 $2,500.00

3102 Worship Supplies $1,746.00 $1,700.00

3302 Pastoral Supply $0.00

3303 Pastoral Expense

$1,000.00 $1,000.00

3402 Flower Committee $388.00

2802 Senior Adults Ministry $500.00

3502 Churchwide Activities $1200.00 $1,200.00

4402 Music Library $627.50

4412 Piano Music Library $121.25

Handbell Music Library $97.00

Instrumentalists

$1,800.00

$480.00

$250.00

$48,030.00

$12,659.65

$14,526.95

$8,000.00

$5,280.03

$21,000.00

$9,000.00

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love how pretty our church is.”

DIRECTOR

$5,280.00

CUSTODIAN $15,600.00

NURSERY WORKERS $5,305.00

HOUSING PASTOR $21,000.00

HOUSING CHILDREN'S MINISTER $21,247.92

HOUSING STUDENT MINISTER $6,000.00

6002 RETIREMENT PASTOR $9,000.00

EMPLOYER FICA/MEDICARE TAX $6,418.47

6952 BANK FEES $4,500.00

OFFICE SUPPLIES $2,500.00

POSTAGE $800.00

OUTREACH $200.00

ACCOUNTING SERVICES $1,700.00

$4,300.00

WEBSITE MONTHLY FEE $240.00

SECURITY SYS MONTHLY FEE $540.00

TELEPHONE $1,610.00

$4,600.00

$291.00

$2,000.00

THE BOTTOM LINE

The Admin Committee is recommending budget receipts remain at $396,000. However, a shift is being proposed that will reflect the increase in giving we have seen recently. Usage Receipts will not be included in budget receipts, but instead directed to a restricted fund that Trustees will use for maintenance. Therefore, this budget will be completely funded through contributions. While the overall budget amount of $396,000 remains the same, several changes have been made within the budget. Here is an overview of notable increased areas of spending:

• 2% raise for our staff to acknowledge their continued good work and in response to the significant increase in cost of living this year

• Increasing Pastor Amanda to Pastor Sharon’ s

• Senior Adult Ministry and Literature increase to reflect higher level of activities

• Utilities increase by $5,000 to reflect increased rates. This is something we need to work on this year Several lines have been reduced. However, these cuts will not affect overall operations of the church. Here is an overview of spending cuts:

• Custodian, Pianist, Office Supplies, Workers Comp, and Non Ministerial Gifts are being reduced to match how much we actually spend

Family Congregational Ministry Missions Operations

• Maintenance and Capital Improvements are significantly reduced because Trustees will now have access to restricted funds from Building Usage.

• The money from CBC Administration is not actually being removed from the budget, but redirected to SC School Partnership This budget leaves a contingency of $2,331 to help account for uncertainties about changing how we handle Building Usage. The Administrative Committee is very confident that this budget is realistic and will allow us to continue seeking God’s dream for our congregation and the world in a meaningful way. Thank you for your continued giving to support our church as we seek to be a family of faith, sharing God’s love in a spirit of hope.