The budget figures as of the end of February continued to be very good, as they usually are early in the fiscal year. After 16.67% of the budget year, pledge income was 28.4% of that budgeted, and overall income 27.4%. The pledge income is high because a number of congregation members have paid their entire 2021 pledge at the beginning of the year. Overall expenses were at 15.9%, resulting in a net surplus of almost $98,000. As in previous years we expect this surplus to decrease to very close to $0 by December 2021 as expenses approach the extra income generated by early pledges.
One expense that will definitely be greater than anticipated and included in the 2021 budget is for the Church’s property and liability insurance. We had originally intended to go with a new carrier, Church Mutual (CM), with a quoted much lower annual premium than for our previous carrier, the United Church of Christ Insurance Board (UCCIB). However, when the actual CM premium with all coverage comparable to our current policy was examined, the difference in premiums was not as large, and the timeliness of responses from CM was much slower than we had received in the past from UCCIB. So we decided to continue our UCCIB insurance, although it is almost $19,000 more than we had originally (and mistakenly) budgeted for the CM policy. Fortunately, Late Prior Year Pledges are already ~$6500 more than budgeted, to help make up about 1/3 of the shortfall. We are hopeful that reduced operating expenses for the remainder of the year, as our church campus slowly reopens, and using some or all of the proposed $7100 replenishment of our Capital Reserve Fund will help cover the increased insurance costs.
Corona Contingency Fund:
In late April and early May of 2020 first Church Council and then the UCG Congregation approved the establishment of a Corona Contingency Fund. At the time, we were unsure of the extent of the Covid-19 pandemic and of its impact on members of our congregation. We hoped that church members receiving the initial federal stimulus payments who did not believe they would need all of the extra money would contribute some or all of their payment to the Fund. Others who might not receive the extra money were encouraged to contribute to the fund if they wished. Over the past 10 months more than $5000 was donated by generous church members to the fund, and all of these monies have been used to help church members impacted by the pandemic.
The ministers have been grateful for the opportunity to show our congregation’s care and support through well-timed gifts to UCG households experiencing loss of income or otherwise unexpected financial burdens during these months. Monies have been used to help folks maintain access to safe housing, to repair cars needed to get to work, to cover unexpected medical and dental expenses, including for children, and to purchase devices to help folks remain connected to the church community over the internet. The gifts were gratefully received and sustaining for the moment for all, and yet economic insecurity remains a real threat.
Given that a second round of stimulus payments has been sent out, and that pandemic related problems remain, the Board believes that we should propose a second call for contributions to the Corona Contingency Fund. This continuation of the original fundraising request was approved by Church Council at its March meeting. We hope many members of the UCC Congregation will repeat their generosity of last year in order to help church members who continue to be impacted in various ways by the pandemic. Donations can either be by check sent to UCG (attn.: Catherine Cake) with Corona Contingency Fund noted in the memo line of the check, or by using the shelbygiving.com site and selecting the Corona Contingency Fund from the pull-down menu of possible funds.