Behind the Curtain
Larry Fournier, November 2016
Ever wonder how you can get a personal insight into how things really work in our Church? Want to get the “rest of the story” without waiting for my column? You may not like the answer, but it is really simple… don’t settle for the gossip or word of mouth… get involved! Find something that you enjoy doing… doesn’t have to be even close to your daytime job. All it takes is to talk to someone on one of the committees or Pastor Ron. Everyone can help in some way. “It Takes a Village” and “Church should not be a spectator sport”… perhaps over-used references, but they do strike home.
OK… so enough with the sales pitch… Since I am the Treasurer of our Church, let me try to explain what the Finance Committee actually does. The members of the Finance Committee automatically include the Church Treasurer (me, Larry Fournier), Finance Secretary (Joe Greenwood), Ad Board Chair (Deb Thomas), Lay Leader (Gary Slagle) and the Pastor (Ron Greene). A Chairperson and other nominated members complete the committee. (spoiler alert!) Currently, we are lacking a Chairperson and several nominated members…. CUMC wants You!
The Finance Committee is responsible for managing the financial well-being of our Church. And that touches almost every other aspect of our Church community… setting and managing the Church budget, counting the weekly contributions and providing financial reports, helping with Fund-Raisers, paying the bills, managing payroll and monitoring our 4 bank accounts and one investment fund. The Counting Committee is managed by Joe Greenwood and they count and record all the contributions each Sunday after service… only takes about 30-45 mins. When they have enough people, everyone can rotate so that they don’t have to count every Sunday.
The Finance Committee also uses a computerized Church Management System called PowerChurch to help with all these tasks. PowerChurch is a database system that simplifies tracking and paying the bills, automating payroll via Direct Deposit, securely entering and storing all the contributions data, creating and managing the Church budget, and creating all the various monthly and annual financial reports. I am the administrator for PowerChurch but there are also several opportunities for other persons to help with PowerChurch. (Starting to see a common thread here…?)
Yes, every committee has formal or informal meetings (sigh)… why?
Christ United Methodist Church is a member of the UM Northern Illinois Conference and is also a legal religious corporation in the State of Illinois. That is what gives us our federal 501(c3) non-profit status and our IL tax exempt status. It is also what drives the need for meetings, recorded minutes of meetings and committee member voting privileges for the Administrative Board, Trustees, Finance, and Staff/Pastor Parish-Relations committees. These meetings are generally held to discuss issues that need to be addressed and how/when to resolve them.
Other committees may have informal or working meetings but are encouraged to keep a record of all important decisions made for future reference. We strive to keep all business meetings at a minimum and can often plan or answer questions via e-mail without the need for another meeting.
Bottom line… you are an important part of our Church and we truly appreciate even the little things that you do, whether you serve on a committee or are just enjoying Sunday worship and fellowship.
See you next month!