Glad Tidings

We are gradually moving toward a discussion of church designations of “Just Peace” and “Open and Affirming”. The process is a rather long one for “Open and Affirming” but “Just Peace” is a little easier because there is no process.

Why bother? Why open ourselves up to controversy over name designations? While we will be looking at these processes as a whole covenanted community, each church must separately decide if it wants these titles after its name. These designations are within themselves part of the establishment of who we are as Central-St. Matthew UCC.  This period that we are now in with an interim pastor is to help us discover who we are as a church (or churches) so that we can set the direction that the church will be taking for the next pastor(s). For me this issue is more critical than determining if the two churches merge now, later, or at all.  I simply want to know what we stand for as a covenanted community.

Why “Just Peace?”  This is a rather old designation….the whole UCC affirmed it as a designation in the 1980s 15th General Synod. “Just Peace” has many highlights that we have listed previously but I want to highlight one that is important for any church in an urban setting and that has been an important focus of Central’s ministry for many years: “A community of solidarity with the poor, seeking to be present in places of oppression, poverty, and violence, and standing with the oppressed in the struggle to resist and change this evil.”

We see this “community of solidarity” reflected in many of the nonprofits that members of both congregations direct or work for. We see it in our sharing of food and money. We are advocates in the Jeremiah Group and Back Bay Mission. The activation of our joint Social Concerns committee is also part of this solidarity. Our web site says: “We are a church that believes in social justice.”

Yet more is required of us!  The designation is a call to each member that our ministry to the poor (among other parts of Just Peace) is part of the core focus of Central-St Matthew. If people speak of Central-St. Matthew UCC they should easily know upfront what we are about.

I encourage everyone to seriously consider joining the task force on Just Peace and Open and Affirming. Both church governing boards have approved this task force and last fall it was listed as a priority at our joint congregational retreats.

A Little about Our Financial Situation

The two diagrams on the next page were put together by Carol Etter, St. Matthew’s treasurer, and presented at the St. Matthew annual meeting. They are intended to be representative (not precise) of the financial operations of St. Matthew and the joint congregations. If you have questions or comments regarding the information or its presentation, please speak to Carol after church or email her at cletter@bellsouth.net.
 
The first diagram illustrates the funds that make up St. Matthew’s financial portfolio. The largest of our funds are the operating funds that take care of the day to day operation of our facilities – utilities, payroll, office & building supplies, etc. Operating funds come from pledges and offerings and from the rents we receive for use of the Carrollton facilities. We also draw from a pool of money (“Katrina Donations”) that were received after the storm. In addition to our operating funds, we are responsible for “Dedicated Funds”, money that is and has been given to the church for specific purposes – choir music, women’s guild, special UCC offerings, flowers, etc. These funds can only be disbursed for the purposes they were given. We also hold funds received from the sale of the St. Matthew Parsonage more than ten years ago. These proceeds were invested with the intention of the interest paying for pastoral housing. The proceeds have never been sufficient to fully cover the pastor’s housing; however the interest is received by operating funds and offsets the housing expenses.  St. Matthew also holds $127,000 (approximately) of Endowment Funds, overseen by the Endowment Committee and only useable on vote of the congregation, when the balance exceeds a trigger level. Due to the stock market downturn, we are currently well below the level were dollars could be taken from the Endowment Fund.
 
The second diagram is an attempt to show how the combined dollars of the two congregations collectively support the facilities and missions of Central-St. Matthew.  The income sources are shown on the left: Pledge income from Central ($64,000 budgeted) and St. Matthew ($65,000 budgeted), dollars that will be drawn from Katrina Donations ($25,000 to balance the budget), and building rents ($88,000). In addition, each congregation earns interest and receives memorial gifts (the two “Int & Mem” bubbles), and we share in an estimated $8,000 of undesignated plate contributions.   On the right-hand side are the expenses – facility upkeep at both Bienville and Carrollton, the interim minister, other shared expenses (secretary, Minister of Music, office supplies, etc.), and costs “unique” to each congregation (primarily mission dollars).  The arrows indicate what source of dollars goes to what type of expense. For example, both Central and St. Matthew pledge income go to the Interim Minister expenses. Bienville facility costs are paid for solely by Central funds. Carrollton facility costs are paid primarily by rents ($88,000 towards the $94,000 cost), with the balance coming from both pledge incomes and Katrina funds.