During the Church service on Sunday October 20, 2024, Reverend Daniel Benson sat down here with the church Treasurer, Paul Dowling to talk about the financial needs of Beach United Church. While they acknowledged that it can be uncomfortable to talk about money, it is important for people that support the church and its programs to know what the church needs.
Here is some of what the Treasurer said:
Being Treasurer in a United Church in 2024 is a challenging task. Our big, beautiful building was originally built to accommodate hundreds of worshippers every Sunday; while we have a core group of committed people on Sunday morning, we are quite a small congregation. Although this is the current reality for many churches, it means that our offerings are not enough to meet our costs to maintain the building, and to employ staff to support our worship and programs.
This year, the Beach United congregation approved a budget deficit of more than $150,000. We know that any deficit is not sustainable in the long run; our reserves will not last forever.
Our church strategic plan acknowledges that the church is more than a place of worship. We also see our role as providing programs and supports for people in our community. These programs include: our music programs, environmental initiatives, knitting for shivering children, Queer Youth support, and our support for people that are food insecure. These are all important parts of our Ministry, and it costs money to sustain them.
Our church building also provides a resource to the local community – for weddings, children’s programs, dance, music programs, and meeting places for a range of community activities. Fortunately, these parts of our Ministry have the potential to provide income.
Finally, we contribute to the work of the wider church here in Toronto and around the world through our support of the United Church Mission and Service Fund.
The problem is that the numbers aren’t working right. Our expenses are more than our income – in fact, quite a bit more. The board is committed to trying to change the equation so that we don’t continue to have a big deficit and in time, can become more sustainable. We need to review all our expenses and ask ourselves whether there are areas where we can cut back. We also need to look at all of the ways we bring in money, including our fundraisers, our income from the parking lot, the EV chargers, grants and room rentals, to see if there are ways to increase our revenue and at the same time to enhance our ability to meet the needs of the community.
Rev. Daniel asked what people in the congregation can do to help?
Paul said that people can offer their ideas and their time to help address our financial challenge. We need fresh eyes and people with life experience to share.
As well, we need people to contribute financially so that a greater proportion of our expenses are met by those of us who value Beach United Church as our community. Our annual budget is about $500,000. Offerings, both in the offering plate and through direct Pre-Authorized Remittance (what we call PAR) provide about $140,000. That is a significant contribution; but we need it to be more.
I am asking people to think about what Beach United means to you and how your gratitude supports and nourishes not just our immediate church family, but our whole neighbourhood and the world beyond us.
We are asking people to look at their circumstances and their contributions, and ask themselves whether they need to make a change.
On Sunday, we will be handing out pledge cards as a way for people to say to themselves and to me as Treasurer, how they plan to contribute in the next year. Your pledge will be confidential. It’s not mandatory, of course, but it will help the church board as we begin to budget for next year and to make plans to become more sustainable..
A copy of the pledge card is available here on the Beach United website. Please take a minute to share your commitment!