It seems that my monthly financial area reports this year have been continually changing up or down. May we were up; June we are down. I hope that this is not an indication that when the income report is good, the Church quits praying and cuts back on financial contributions. The needs are always great, and additional opportunities to preach the Gospel always seem to come. Almost every issue of THE WORLDWIDE NEWS tells of new opportunities that have just become available. Jesus said that the harvest is plenteous, but the laborers are few. The income never seems to catch up with these needs. So please, fellows, always include a request in your daily prayers that God will abundantly supply this need.
Before the May report was off the press, the income figures for the month of June as compared to last June were way down, even negative for a while. They improved gradually throughout the month until we ended June with an increase of 6.2%. This brought our yearly increase down. For the first half of the year, it is 11.6%, which is below budget by 0.4%.
In the overall expense area, the departments collectively are doing well, even though some are unavoidably over budget, as I have mentioned. This means that our bank balances are about what they were projected to be. Unless there is a decided change in direction, we have passed our high point in these balances for this time of year, and they will probably be decreasing until the end of September.
If we all pray urgently for the finances, I am sure that following reports will be more encouraging.
REPORT FROM THE TREASURER'S OFFICE
Worldwide Church of God