Serving on the Church Council of Christ the King Lutheran Church gives each council member the opportunity and privilege to see the range of wonderful things that our congregation has accomplished as a community in Christ.
As leaders, we also see the challenges ahead. To sustain our continued growth in membership, service and education, the congregation of Christ the King Lutheran Church faces important decisions in the near future. If we would have the opportunity, would we buy real estate to provide space for parking and future growth? Will we expand the Nave to accommodate growing participation in the liturgy? Will we increase our support for ministries outside our congregation?
Right now, these decisions would be very difficult to make because of our financial situation. Simply put, our regular giving is not adequate to support our ministry programs and service the debt that we took on to fund our new facilities.
To be sure, our congregation is blessed in many ways: We have a dedicated ministry staff, each with his and her unique talents. Through worship, we offer prayer, praise, and thanksgiving to God. The music program uplifts us, and our education programs help us grow in the faith given to us in baptism, from childhood through adulthood. We enjoy fellowship and care for each other. We reach out to others less fortunate in our city and beyond. We are blessed with volunteers who devote much love and countless hours to every aspect of our life together every day of the week. Through the hard work and commitment of our members, we have developed fine facilities for our ministry that are used by the congregation and community on a daily basis since its opening in 2003. So far about 30 outside community groups have used our facilities in 2005, many of them on a weekly or monthly schedule.
The first capital campaign in 2000 to help fund our new ministry and education building was called, “Graced by the Past...Called to the Future.” Today, five years later, we see the future: a growing congregation with more than 800 members including 50 children younger than four years old!
In 2004, the members contributed $731,775 to support the operating budget (Part 1), $81,048 for the building budget (Part 2) and $336,230 for the debt service and debt reduction campaign (Bridge to the Future, 2003). Our giving was broad based: More than 330 individuals or families (giving units) gave to Part 1 and Part 2 last year.
Still, our giving must increase if we are going to meet our expectations for programming and our debt service obligations. What is holding us back?
One of the important conditions of the Bridge to the Future campaign in 2003 was to reduce these transfers each year over a time span of three years. Our goal remains to eliminate that transfer after 2006 and to pay our mortgage from regular giving - but we’ve got a long way to go.
As a congregation, we have shown the ability to increase our giving to meet a challenge when it is presented. As members of Church Council we try to do our part by serving as responsible stewards, keeping an eye on costs with a careful review of the budget each month.
The answers to our challenges are not complicated:
Beginning with this issue of “The King’s Banner,” we will provide a snapshot of the congregation’s financial position. Our view is more information will permit all of us to assess our position. A shorter weekly update can be found in the bulletin insert This Week. Our goal is to begin a conversation that will continue through the fall, as each family considers its commitments of time, treasure and talent during the stewardship campaign. Members of Church Council do not know how much each member or family gives. We will not tell anyone how much to give. We will discuss the church’s future with any member who wishes to have such a conversation and encourage all to ask questions.
This fall, we will celebrate our 60th anniversary answering God’s call to be the Church in this place. With prayer and commitment from each member, we can realize our shared vision in the years to come.