How does the church pay for day to day expenses? Where does the church get the money it contributes to the poor and needy? Who pays for the Altar Hangings and the vestments? If I see new things around the church, how can we be broke?

The church uses two types of funds (or accounts) to pay for our common life together as the church. The first type is known as the operating fund, the second type are called designated funds. The names are self-explanatory. The operating fund pays for our 'day-to-day' expenses, designated funds are for specific purposes.

When you make a pledge to the church, or give to the church without any instructions as to how that money is to be spent, it is placed in the operating fund. The operating fund pays for most ongoing expenses. Some of these expenses are fixed, such as staff salaries and expenses, programs, insurance, taxes and our pledge to the diocese. Some expenses vary from month to month, such as office and kitchen supplies, utilities, repairs, cleaning, as well as expenses for maintaining Christian Education (curriculum), the choir (music), the altar (bread and wine), parish life and what we give to others as part of our Missions and Outreach.

Throughout the year, the clergy, staff and vestry get together and set the vision for the parish. In addition, they try to anticipate the various fixed and variable expenses the church will have in the coming year. These discussions culminate in a proposed budget. The hope is that the parish will support the vision of the leadership by pledging an amount which meets, or exceeds, the budget, rather than the leadership deciding on how best to distribute the monies that have been pledged.

Designated funds, as their name implies, are given and reserved for specific items. In some cases, a fund is started, and money is given for a specific purpose. Some examples at Good Shepherd are remodeling the kitchen, a new piano in the choir room, the J2A pilgrimage, starting a children's choir, furniture for the Christian Ed rooms. The most prominent at this time is the Walking the Way fund, to raise and collect money for our newly completed building addition.

Another type of fund that is essentially a designated fund is the memorial fund. Usually given when someone passes away, monies are donated to the church in memory of the recently deceased. Depending on the amount received, the wishes of the family of the deceased and the giver, and on the needs of the church, these monies are usually spent on an aesthetic, tangible object as a suitable tribute to the Glory of God and the deceased. A good example of this is the fountain in the courtyard between the church and parish hall, which was purchased by Chuck and June Henry as a memorial to their mothers.

It is also somewhat common for children to contact the leadership as they wish to honor their parents (who are very much alive) with a gift to the church. A recent example is the new wine cruet given by Diane Hanlon in honor and thanksgiving for Jeanne & Tracy Ferguson.

Finally, the church has what is known as an endowment fund. This fund is made up primarily of bequeaths to the church, from the sale of church property and money given with specific designation to the endowment fund. The parish invests these monies and maintains an investment portfolio under the direction of the vestry and the finance committee. Interest income is used to support the parish in many ways. Some recent examples are new roofing, painting the church and parish hall and replacing the air conditioning unit. It is sound business practice to use only interest income from an endowment.