As explained in the February 12th Pastor's Report, the Church Division, along with all other areas in the Work, has had to make substantial budget cuts in order to bring projected expenses into line with expected income. The bulk of the cuts were made in the Festival, Human Potential and Y.O.U. departments rather than the field. However, we do not feel even those cuts made in the field budget will impair the basic ministerial functions.
The largest single item cut from the budget was the amount budgeted for salary increases next July. This will affect all the employees within the Church Division including the field ministry. We felt you should be aware of this so that you could plan your personal budgets accordingly.
As mentioned last week, funds for the purchase of office furniture and equipment were cut. Therefore, we will not be able to fill those requests for furniture and equipment that have been received.
Another item that was eliminated was money for tuition reimbursement and the purchase of books. If any of you find yourself in a real bind because you made commitments based on what you were told previously, please let us know and we will do what we can to help.
One last area that needs to be addressed is the Church Assistant Fund. No budget cuts were made in this area; however, we do want to be as careful as possible to limit expenses in this area to necessary items. Some have asked whether or not they could still write checks on the Central Clearing Account. The answer is yes, but please use it only for genuinely serious needs and do not use it at all for ministerial or church expense items.
As a final note, will the minister who sent in an inactive member status card on Mrs. Kelly Scott please send in another card? The first card was sent in incomplete — without the minister's name — making it impossible, for us to determine the church area.
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