Newsletter: Preparing for the Annual Vestry Meeting
Thinking about a 5-year plan…
Where do we want the church to go?
As we continue to prepare for the annual Vestry meeting on Sunday, February 25 beginning at 11:20am, I want you to start thinking about three challenges that we face this year.
Challenge 1: We are projecting a budget deficit for 2024.
For the last few years, end-of-year finances have showed surpluses. This means we made more money that we spent. We used this extra money to help pay down our debt to the diocese, to fund a youth trip to Taize in France, and to get started on our church renovations, with a bit left over in the bank. This year, we are projecting a deficit which means that our projected expenses will be greater than our projected income. Budget deficits are a normal part of operations for many businesses and non-profits, sometimes necessary as a way of getting through tough economic times. Two important things about deficits are that you need to have a plan for how to fund the deficit (e.g. a source of money from a savings account or from an investment), and you also have to have a plan for how to stop having deficit budgets in coming years. We have money in our operations fund, our building fund, and in a bequest we received last year, and a very smart team of financial brains.
One of the issues we had this year in creating the budget was that it was very difficult to project revenues, particularly revenues that come from regular giving. There are two reasons for this. First, we have a number of new people in the congregation who have started to give and we are not certain how this new giving will impact our donation revenue. Second, very few people (including me!) handed in their pledge forms this year. When it came time to project revenues, we had to make our best conservative guess based on previous years’ giving. This may or may not give an accurate picture of where we are now.
Challenge 2: The roof and skylight over the sanctuary need to be replaced as soon as possible.
As many of you know, we’ve had trouble with the skylight in the church leaking for years now. We’ve also known that the metal roof over the sanctuary has been nearing the end of its life for a while. With the new weather phenomenon of atmospheric rivers, the time has come to get that roof fixed!
The Wardens and I have explored all of the different options for what to do with the roof, everything from replacing the roof with a shingle roof, to removing the skylight and filling in that part of the ceiling with more roof. The conclusion of all of those deliberations is that the best choice is to replace the metal roof with another metal roof, and to replace the skylight with a new water-tight/air-tight skylight. You will also have noticed that the time has come to repaint the coloured strip that goes around the church just under the roof. We’ll share more about the exact quotes we received to have this work done in the coming week, but suffice it to say that all of this work together will come in between $150,000 and $160,000.
There are two bits of good news. The first is that we already have about half of the money needed for this work. The second bit of good news is that the diocese is currently working on a plan to help us meet these costs though a combination of grants, loans, and a mission development process. However, this good news does not mean you are off the hook in terms of giving! We will gratefully receive increased donations to the building fund.
Challenge 3: Beginning a property development process
As you know, we own a fair bit of property around the church, somewhere over two acres is my guess, though Brian, our Treasurer, knows for sure. Much of this property is underused, and it is getting harder and harder for us to find the volunteers to maintain it. In addition to this, we all know that there is a housing crisis in the Lower Mainland generally, and in Langley City specifically. Some of you will know that the diocese has made housing and homelessness a mission priority, and that the Province of BC has also prioritized housing. Fewer of you will know that City of Langley employees have approached me to ask about what our church’s plans are in terms of housing and property development. I have a meeting with the mayor of Langley City next month, and this will certainly be one of the things we talk about.
So knowing all of that, our Treasurer did some research into what options might be available to us. He asked specifically about our proximity to the river and found out that it is possible to build on our property as long as we build up the bank of the river by about one metre. He also asked specifically about our proximity to the airport and learned that we could build a six story building without any concerns about airplanes. To make a long story short, it is possible to build a 6-story building with approximately 130,000 square feet on our property, and that the Diocese of New Westminster and the City of Langley are interested in exploring that with us. There will be lots of details to discuss!
Our job at the Vestry meeting will be to commission a small working group from the congregation to explore the process of property development at St Andrew’s. This group will likely include me, the Wardens, and the Treasurer, but we’d also be interested in having one or two more people from the congregation join us. Let me know if this is something you would consider.
Looking ahead…
So there you have an outline of our three challenges. Keep your eyes open for the Vestry documents which will come out this week and plan to come to the meeting on the 25th to discuss these and other issues. I look forward to your participation!
Centre for Spiritual Renewal
Check out the Centre’s offerings! Click the button below…
Donations to Sources Food Bank
Thanks to Bev for her great commitment to the Food Bank!
Suggested Food Donations
When choosing food donations, please consider healthy choices
· Canned protein (ex. Tuna, Salmon, Chicken, Ham, Chili, Stew)
· Rice and Rolled Oats
· Peanut Butter
· Pasta
· Canned fruit
· Canned vegetables
· Fresh fruit
· Fresh vegetables
· 100% Fruit juice
· Meal replacement (ex. Ensure, Boost)
Donations can be made at the Food Bank: 208 20445 52 Ave Langley, BC, Monday to Thursday 8:30pm—4.00pm. Food donations can also be left at all local grocery stores.
Events!
Tuesday Bible Study has begun again on Zoom at 7pm. Our Lenten series will be Praying the Psalms beginning on February 20th.
And on Thursdays at 11am, we have a Healing Eucharist Service every week. If you or someone you know would like to be anointed with the Holy Oil, this is the service for you. The service will also include an extended prayer time so bring your prayer concerns with you. Through Lent, we’ll be repeating the Tuesday Bible Study session in person in the church at 10am just before the Healing Eucharist. Please let me know if you are interested in participating in this study.
Our Saturday afternoon Spiritual Practice Retreat will be on the 24th this month, beginning at 1:30pm and going until 4:45. Our topic is Martha, Mary, & the Spiritual Practice of Hospitality. Please sign up for the retreat on the sheet on the office window! There will be retreats on March 30th (Holy Saturday) when we will look at the Seven Last Words of Christ, and April 27th, topic TBA.
Keep your eyes open for the Knitting Group. They usually meet on Wednesdays. This month, it will be on February 21st at 1pm.
Ash Wednesday will be on Valentine's Day, this Wednesday, February 14th. We’ll have a service in the evening at 7pm for those who would like to be marked with ashes.
Family Eucharist services will be on two Saturdays, February 17th and April 20th from 4:30-630pm. The theme in February will be Ash Wednesday, and the theme in April will be Easter! This is a fun time for the whole family and includes a Bible story, some crafts and activities, Holy Communion, and pizza supper. Please mark these days in your calendar and plan to bring your whole family. And, if you are interested in helping with some of the activities, Cathy & I are going to have a short meeting to make some plans. Please let me or Cathy know if you would like to help out!
The Annual Vestry Meeting (which is the church’s AGM) will be held on Sunday, February 25th after the 10am service. We’ll begin the meeting in the church at about 11:30 am. If you are interested in helping with coffee or snacks for the meeting, please speak to Cathy or to Marsha. Bishop John will be joining us for 10am worship and the Vestry meeting.
Care Home Ministry this week!
Harrison Landing: Wed, Feb 14 at 2pm
Harrison Pointe: Thurs, Feb 15th at 2pm
As always, please let me know if you or anyone you know would like a visit from the clergy!
Love from,
Andrew
