FINANCIAL UPDATE

BY: JOHN CLAUSING

We are well into the new year, a good time to check in on how our resolutions (if any) are going. Is the healthy eating plan or workout schedule still intact? Or has it wavered? While I think we’d all opt for an easy solution, we know a disciplined long-haul approach is the most effective way to physical health. And financial health is no different.

Faith Church has been blessed by consistent, faithful giving for many years. As a church we have been and continue to be financially healthy because of the value many in our congregation have placed in following God’s plan of sacrificial giving that He has set and modeled before us. The leadership of the Church is grateful and inspired by that act of worship. Since we are just over halfway through our fiscal year, it is appropriate to look back and to look forward.

From looking back to looking ahead, you can see that the need for healthy, consistent God-inspired giving is needed to sustain our financial health. This is important so Faith Church can continue to restore the world one relationship at a time for Jesus Christ.“ What does this look like exactly?

> Welcoming over 5,900 people, collectively, through the doors of our Faith Church sites this past Christmas - many hearing the good news for the first time!

> Celebrating 310 new members joining our Faith Church family in 2023, with 36 adults professing their faith in Jesus for the very first time and celebrating 96 infant baptisms!

Faith Church’s 2023/2024 giving goals were set at just over $9.1 million to cover our expected $8.65 million in expenses while providing growth for the future. Additionally, we launched Better Together, a 3-year, $10.6 million campaign to fund building and growth projects at our Beecher, Cedar Lake and Highland locations. Our current pledges stand at $6,419,500.

The beginning of 2024 marked the halfway point in our fiscal year. Our operating budget received $4,400,000 in giving, which is 48% of our giving goal. Recognizing this potential shortfall, our staff and operations are currently running expenses at 88%.

> Joining together with a collection of churches throughout Northwest Indiana to host a night of worship where hundreds of people gathered at Bulldog Park in Crown Point to lift high the name of Jesus!

The next few months are opportunities for continued (or starting!) consistent God-led, sacrificial giving. Our current budget ends June 30, 2024. Your giving isn’t just a means to a final budget number, though. It is an investment in your own spiritual disciplined life and an investment in God’s work of changing lives in our region and around the world. If you have any questions about our church’s budget or giving, feel free to contact your location deacon team.Our Better Together expansion projects are moving ahead. Faith Beecher broke ground in November 2023. The current plan is for Faith Cedar Lake and Faith Highland to break ground this spring. Renderings for each location as well as campaign updates are available at WeAreFaith.org/togethercampaign or if you feel God is speaking to you in this giving opportunity, you are welcome to engage at any time.