Dear Friends,
As we approach the end of Kairos’ 2020 fiscal year in June, the Finance team wants to provide you with an update on the financial health of our community.
First, we want to thank you for the many ways in which you support this community of disciples who seek to “encourage one another daily to follow in the way of Jesus”. We know that your giving is primarily a reflection of your spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ – an outward expression of your faith and not about the financial security of Kairos Church. As the worldly recipient of your tithe, however, we are grateful for your generosity. Please know that your pastoral staff works hard to honor your faithfulness by watching our expenses and attempting to spend every dollar to expand God’s Kingdom.
The original budget for Fiscal Year 2020 (ends June 30) was $866,000. This budget was a decrease of $21,000 from the prior fiscal year budget but exceeded the total revenue for fiscal 2019 by almost $20,000. Most significantly, it included the hiring of someone to pastor our growing number of youth (currently 20 students in the 6th-12th grades). As you can see in the chart below, most of our spending goes to Pastoral Staff (61%), with the next largest expenditures being for Missional Giving (primarily the Equipping Fund), Building Maintenance, and Children’s Ministry.
This budget for fiscal year 2020 was reduced in January by $109,430 as it appeared that giving was not on track to reach the original budget. The revised budget of $765,570 reflects a delay in hiring a youth pastor and his initial start in a part-time rather than full-time capacity; less spending on worship due to the departure of our worship leader; reduced gifts by the Equipping Fund; and lower than planned maintenance capital spending. It should be noted that the reduced spending for a youth pastor is temporary saving and that the maintenance capital spending cannot be deferred indefinitely.
Kairos has undergone a lot of changes in its twelve-year history. It has grown from a small group of people meeting in a house, to a congregation meeting in a small church in Grant Park, to a growing community of disciples in a wonderful facility at the intersection of Riverside Drive and I-285. With our growth, we have added staff to address the pastoral and discipleship needs of our adults, children, and now youth. Our larger location has required more spending for ongoing maintenance. We have also been a generous congregation, giving to our neighbors near and far, including opening up our building to other worshipping communities.
Below is a breakdown of our operating expenses over the last three years:
As shown below, most of the funds to support these expenses (93% in the last two fiscal years) come from you, the members of this community. (We also receive rent from the Tabula Rasa School and Bethesda Church, the Latino congregation that uses our building for worship on Saturday.)
Unfortunately, our congregational giving is extremely concentrated. For the first nine months of this year, we received contributions of $540,000 from approximately 130 families. (Some contributions were anonymous.) 87 families gave $500 or more and accounted for $531,000 in contributions. Ten families accounted for 50% of those contributions. Looked at only from a financial perspective, this is not a good situation.
The following chart shows congregational giving for 2019 and year-to-date for 2020. Congregational contributions through the first nine months of our fiscal year (March 31) have totaled $503,313 compared with $466,520 in the prior fiscal year. But to achieve last year’s total giving of $783,866, we must receive an average of $93,517 a month for April – June.
Scripture calls us to offer to God the “first fruits” of what He has provided us. Naturally, we are all inclined to give out of what’s left over after we’ve taken care of our needs and desires (and we all know how easy it is for our desires to become our needs!). The spiritual discipline of giving first helps us to recognize that everything we have comes from God. It teaches us to hold all our gifts more lightly and to rely more on our God than on our own strength and resources. And by beginning to experience the freedom of trusting God to care for us, we walk more closely with Jesus and share in the joy and blessings of the Spirit.
We understand that the ability to support this community financially varies widely. If you are giving faithfully in response to the call of the Lord, whatever the amount, we want to offer our thanks and appreciation. If after prayer and reflection, you feel that the Spirit is at work in and through this community, we want to encourage you to support Kairos with your tithes and offerings. To offer a one-time gift or to set up a reoccurring gift, please visit: Kairos Giving Options. Â
Grace and Peace from your Finance Team,
Stewart Teegarden
steegarden@gayconstruction.com
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Sandor Fejervary
sfejervary@tpa-grp.comÂ
Walter DuPre
walterdupre@gmail.com