Behind the Curtain
Hi! Larry Fournier here… I have been our Church Treasurer for the last 5 years and would love to share some “secrets” with you. Reminds me of the Old Testament Holy of Holies or the Wizard of OZ where only a privileged few were privy to what went on “Behind the Curtain”. So let’s tear the curtain in half and have a look at our finances!
The first question someone tends to ask me in a conversation is “How are we doing”? So let’s “Weigh the Good with the Bad”…
- The good news is that presently the monthly bills are getting paid.
- The not so good news is that the monthly ending General Fund bank balance is too low for comfort and we do not have a reserve if something unforeseen happens.
- The good news is that we currently have a UMF Investment Fund with a balance of a little over $150,000 from the sale of a portion of our land to the Huntley Fire Department in 2009.
- Better news! The initial proceeds of the land sale paid off our Church mortgage and Parsonage mortgage. We continue to be mortgage and loan debt-free.
- The restriction on use of the UMF Fund is that ONLY the ”interest” from the fund can be used for “local budget needs”. The principal amount can ONLY be used for building or property improvements or additions since the funds came from the sale of part of our property assets.
So how can we turn our not-so-good news into better news? One of the answers is to be able to forecast our monthly income more accurately (and make my job a bit less stressful). Several Church members (including my family) already use our Electronic giving EFT service as a way of fulfilling our financial commitment to support our Church. EFT is quick & easy…
- Enrollment forms are available in the Lobby
- Changes can be made at any time with notice to Joe Greenwood, the Financial Secretary
(Paper form or e-mail to josephgreenwood@yahoo.com)
So it looks like I will be writing this column every month for a while…
See you next month with more “secrets” to expose!