To the Congregation of Mountainview Church Kelowna
We are now well into 2022, hopefully a refreshing year of renewal for Mountainview as many of us are able to return to worship together in person. Even more inspiring is the increase of our membership, as we welcome new families to our congregation, and the exciting growth of our musical worship and our kids and young adult ministries. Mountainview has a wonderful "energy", with all thanks to your joyful, warm and welcoming participation. We even have a staffed welcome desk each Sunday morning!
We are so very grateful for the wonderful support of your financial contributions to the building of God's Kingdom and the church's missions and ministries. With your continued support we have been able to make several improvements which have resulted in the growth of our online ministry, and your donations to the Lance Fund have resulted in additional improvements to the church building, including a new meeting area for young adults and a renovated Hub for our Sunday School. Your contributions continue to support our outreach and have a positive impact in the lives of others. Thank you!
On Sunday, February 27, 2022 at our Annual General Meeting, Mountainview's 2022 budget of Revenues and Expenses was reviewed and approved by the members of the church. The 2022 financial plan was based on a modest increase of 6% in the contributions of the congregation, with a request to prayerfully consider changes to weekly or monthly PAR and online offerings to support the new budget and allow us to continue the missions of the church.
Currently however, we find our donations to be lagging behind our financial plan. As Pastor Emery has mentioned, unplanned expenses, including a sizeable snow removal cost, have crept in. At the same time, unfortunately we have not yet seen our offerings increase as budgeted and the revenues of the church are below plan by almost 10%.
We feel it is prudent to bring this to your attention at this time, even though the trend is early, so we are able to address the variance and get our budget back "on track" while the financial adjustment is very manageable.
On Sunday, March 27th, Pastor Emery delivered the incredible message of a generous God who has provided for us everything we have, and for whose Kingdom work we have the opportunity to return those gifts. In Malachi 3:10 we are even challenged to test his generosity:
Malachi 3:10
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing.
and we find this promising message in Paul's 2nd letter to the Corinthians:
2 Corinthians 9: 6-7
The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Thank you once again for everything you do in support of Mountainview Church. We hope that you will consider any additional adjustments to your offerings which will close the current gap and help us meet our 2022 financial plan. For “when you give, you invest in eternity.”
Respectfully,
Wayne McNiven
Stewardship Lead, Finance and Stewardship Committee