2011 State of Affairs

State of the Church Letter

 The Board of Directors, who is directed by our by-laws to take care of the financial obligations and responsibilities of the church, maintain the church facilities and provide for and fund the church ministries, has worked very hard this year to operate within a tight budget. Thanks to many years of careful planning and fiscal responsibility we are pleased to report that the church is debt free with an operating capital of $71,835.53 at the end of February, 2011.

While we are blessed and thankful to be in this position, we must report and recognize that we have been working at a deficit budget and have been using some of our previous year’s surpluses to meet our expenses the last few years. Our surplus operating capital at the end of 2008 was $118,347.69, at the end of 2009 it was $94,903.68 and at the end of 2010 it was $69,433.98.

In an effort to reduce or eliminate any further deficit spending we have cut back aggressively in all areas possible, including many deferred maintenance needs and have been asking each ministry, department and church function to be self funded whenever possible.

Thanks to each of you who donate your time in church cleaning, landscaping, office work and many other volunteer work areas, we have been able to shrink the amount of outgoing funds and are happy to report that the last three months have shown a slight increase in our operating capital.

The only salaries that are paid by the church at this time are our Pastor Jim York and our Youth Pastor, Luke Braddock. We pay for a Nursery Care Person who works on Sundays and we pay a small stipend for the church treasurer, to offset the amount of time and travel it takes to take care of the church bookkeeping. All of our secretarial work is volunteer or is taken care of by Pastors Jim or Luke.

It is the Board of Directors commitment to continue to fund our pastor and youth pastor at a fair salary, to allow them to continue to do their job in ministry to our congregation. With your continued help, we will keep this commitment.

Harbor Chapel has a Benevolence Committee that works under the direct supervision and oversight of the Board of Directors. The Benevolence Committee has financially helped many families and individuals in our church body the past few years. The Benevolence Committee is funded by separate contributions and presently has a balance of around $5,500.00. We are blessed to have these funds set aside for this very important task of helping our people in times of need.

We believe that God has helped us in these lean times and has blessed Harbor Chapel with a wonderful congregation of dedicated people who are continually giving to the Lord’s work. We know that there are many needs in our community and many ministries who ask for and need funds but, remember it is important to first, support your local church where you are being helped spiritually and where your families are getting a firm foundation for life.  

Harbor Chapel has always been unique and blessed in regards to its financial condition. It is a church in which you hardly ever hear a request for special offerings or funding, yet the church is debt free and financially healthy. This is a strong testimony to the character and spiritual commitment of the people who attend here.

From myself and the Board of Directors, I would like to finally say, thanks for your continued support and prayers. I look forward to the blessings we are sure to receive this coming year.

Sincerly,

Doyle Fikes 

President - Board of Directors