Numbers are not ministries. Numbers, such as attendance or budget dollars, do not determine the faithfulness of a congregation. Numbers are tools. They help us evaluate our priorities and our impact. The primary function of the numbers is descriptive, and we believe that those descriptions are helpful to the entire congregation.This month we are providing even more numbers than in the last newsletter. The statistics for our first quarter of 2010 are available. Reading through the numbers, you will probably notice that we are ahead in our income. This is primarily from several annual one‐time payments.
Income and expenses remain a bit ahead of what has been budgeted. The reader will notice that expenses relating to Worship and Music are higher than expected. This is related to hiring guest musicians for Easter. These expenses are seasonal, and the budget will come into balance in the later months.
Meanwhile, your staff is saving the church money. Recently, Pearlie Diesinger noticed that we spend a lot of money on paper. With worship folders, newsletters, and educational materials, the Ardmore Presbyterian Church acts as a small publishing house. Examining our printing costs, Pearlie has found some substantial savings.
Over the years, we have used a very special paper for our worship folders. The company that produces it must cut it to meet our specifications. It has a great quality, but each page cost us 29¢. Our paper expenses were huge, especially for something that was used for only an hour each week. Stacks of orphan worship folders in the recycling bins were stacks of money. Pearlie found a substitute which maintains high quality but costs only 3¢ a page. We save over a quarter each worship folder. At the end of the year, the quarters add up to thousands of dollars in savings.
Every person who gives to the church gives out of finite funds. We desire to be responsible with those funds in order that God may be praised even more.
