YAY! Fall is finally here. Thank goodness for the earth’s orbital tilt!

Dori Wolfe and Beryl Kaminsky initiated our 2024 Stewardship Campaign with the goal of raising $510 thousand in pledge revenue for calendar 2024. Thank you to those who have already made their pledges.

On a parallel track, Troy Rocket (Chair), Ann May, Trish Hinojosa, Linda Lord, and Nancy Lipp (the Long Term Planning Task Force) are developing their first draft plan to provide for the long-term financial and spiritual sustainability of Emerson.

January will be busy.  We will find out how much we have collectively pledged for 2024, we will get our first look at the first draft long term plan, we will approve the 2024 budget, and will we elect new leaders for the Board of Trustees, Nominations Committee, and Outreach Committee.

In 2021 pledge revenue was $551 thousand, in 2022 pledge revenue was $478 thousand, so $510 thousand is definitely something we can achieve. The closer we can get to that target, the less we may need to transfer from our Endowment Fund to make ends meet.  Wouldn’t it be good if we did not need to transfer additional funds from our Endowment to pay for operating expenses?  Recall that in January 2023 the congregation approved the transfer (as a loan) of $75,000 from our Endowment to our operating account to create a balance budget and to fund critical church expenses. As of this writing we anticipate making this transfer.

The work of the Long Term Planning Task Force is defined in their Charter, which is available in the member’s area of our website.  As a reminder, we created the Task Force because our membership trend, revenue trend, and expense trends are not sustainable.  See graphics below:

If we continue on our present course, if these trends continue, and if our Endowment Fund benefits from “typical” investment returns, our Endowment could be gone in several years.

Some may call me pessimistic or accuse me of “crying wolf,” but honestly, I’m trying to provide a realistic assessment of our fiscal situation.  The Board of Trustees collectively agreed to create the Task Force to address these negative trends.

So I ask everyone to please respond to the Task Force when they ask for your input.  Please engage with the issue and express your views.

The decisions ahead will not be easy, but they need to be made.  We collectively need to discuss and debate options presented by the Task Force and hopefully find consensus on how to move forward.

As always, please contact me if you have any questions or comments.