20

13

Na

rr

ati

ve B

ud

ge

t

ro

ck S

pr

iNg

co

Ng

re

ga

tio

Na

l

Embracing Our FuturE tOgEthEr

thrOugh thOughtFul, intEntiOnal giving

iNcluSive juStice-SeekiNg faith-filled joyful cariNg & geNerouS

learNiNg

Embracing Our FuturE

thrOugh thOughtFul, intEntiOnal giving

we embrace our future from the strong foundation of community, faith, service, and finance, bequeathed by our predecessors. We owe it to ourselves and to future generations of Rock Springers to approach this time of giving in a thoughtful, intentional way. Through our ministries we seek to strengthen our core values. We are an inclusive, learning, caring & generous, justice-seeking, faith-filled, and joyful congregation.

We owe it to ourselves and to future generations of Rock Springers to approach this time of giving in a thoughtful, intentional way. The narrative budget presented here represents the collective hopes and goals of our many boards, financing a myriad of planned Rock Spring activities, to continue to carry us forward as a church. These activities support and strengthen the lives of our members---young, old and in-between—as well as the lives of many in the larger community and the world. We hope it will serve as a basis for thoughtful discussion of how we Rock Springers can best use our time and talents to enhance our church community and the many others we serve.

Most of the items in this budget represent the basic necessities of operating our church home and its programs. Other items are more aspirational, representing how our various Boards would hope to expand their missions in exciting ways to better serve us and the larger community. Once the pledge campaign has ended, the Church Council will meet to determine a final budget. Hopefully, it will contain most of the aspirational items, as well as basic necessities, but there may have to be some revisions to reflect actual results. A final budget, reconciling the pledge campaign results with the needs of the Congregation, will be presented to the Congregation in January for approval.

The 2013 budget presented for the budget goals meeting represents a 7% increase over the actual budget total for 2012. More than half the budget covers personnel costs including pastoral, music, office and custodial staff. We have maintained the current salary for Minister of

as wE launch rOck spring intO its sEcOnd cEntury

Children, Youth and Families (CYF) minister position as a placeholder while the Congregation decides how to support the CYF position. The second largest item is property maintenance and office operations followed by our budgeted giving to missions and the wider church. The budget continues to provide for 20% of all pledges and identified gifts goes to Rock Spring Wider Missions administered by the Social Action and Mission Board. (The substantial giving from our five special offerings and special projects such as Fifth Sundays are in addition to the budget-based wider mission giving).

Read on for details about how the budget relates to the mission of the church and is allocated among several areas of activity.

“When we’ve been there ten thousand years,

bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when

we’d first begun.”

-John Newton

2013 budgEt gOals allOcatiOns

wOrship & music: EstimatEd tOtal budgEt OF $341,270Worship is Where We all come together as a Congregation for inspiration, spiritual growth, learning and fellowship. It is at the heart of our community. Your giving provides for our sacred place – for worship that is thoughtfully prepared and led, for majestic anthems and pealing bells, for bulletins that keep us all on the same page. Our Pastors and music staff plan and execute our services with the help of ushers, choir members and many others. Deacons play a central role in overseeing worship, hospitality, and caring for those unable to attend our services.

The work of the Worship Task Force has been incorporated under Deacons as the Spirituality and the Arts Committee.1 This will allow last year’s worship enhancements to become a permanent part of our worship. From dancers, to blue Christmas trees, origami cranes, and bulletin covers created by artists within the congregation, these new aspects of worship were met with delight and good energy. There seems to be wide support for drawing forth the gifts of the congregation and using them in a variety of ways to heighten our worship experience.

Born as an experiment in response to a desire for more contemplative worship experiences, the 30-minute Candlelight Evening Prayer service held on the first Friday of the month from October through April quickly gained a following. People have been heard to say, “I find it a great way

to finish the week and put everything into perspective,” and “I feel instantly at peace when I look at all of those candles.” These services appear to be meeting a need for nurturing and renewal.

A highlight of the proposed music program for 2013 is the production of the opera “Amahl and the Night Visitors” for Epiphany Sunday (January 6, 2013). This would be an exciting and unique opportunity to take advantage of the special young talent in the congregation. The Music Board also has a continuing need for many baseline activities and expenses, including tuning 4 pianos as many as 3 times a year; quarterly organ maintenance, music licensing and purchase; the Easter Clarion Brass, and guest soloists; but the results add great exuberance and inspiration to our worship experience.

And, of course, this music program runs because of our talented pastoral staff and music directors, whose salaries are a major part of the worship budget.

1 While establishing an art in worship committee will be an additional cost for the Deacons’ budget, it is less than half of the cost of the initial task force in last year’s budget.

2013 budgEt gOals allOcatiOns

christian EducatiOn & FEllOwship: EstimatEd tOtal budgEt OF $198,853

“No one has yet fully realized the wealth of sympathy, kindness, and generosity

hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true

education should be to unlock that treasure.”

-Emma Goldman

as you can’t miss on sunday morning, our services are bounding with the joy and energy of young folks who participate in our programs. We are committed to helping all children feel welcome and providing a joy-filled environment that nurtures faith, learning, caring, and a commitment to justice. We have a full and growing Sunday School at both the 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. services. There are evening youth programs, vacation Bible experience in the summer, and mission trips. All are supported by our pastoral staff as well as a host of volunteers. Your generosity makes this possible.

But Christian Education is not just for our youth. We have adult education opportunities offered by able leaders such as Dwight Rodgers, Dick Metzger, Janice Langholtz, Deborah Benavidez, Janet Parker, and Dale and Kathy Dwyer. Our expanded adult education and small group ministries support our value of being a learning community.

As noted above, we have included in the budget a salary equivalent to Pastor Fairman’s salary so we will be in a position to fund permanent staff support for our youth proram when

the right candidate is found.

With our broad range of youth and adult education and fellowship opportunities, nearly half of the Christian Education Board’s budget is devoted to curriculum and supplies. Confirmation expenses, Safe Church and Early Childhood Parenting parts of the program also command money. The CE Board has also asked us to try and find extra money for classroom enhancements to improve seating and refurbish some rooms used in its programs.

2013 budgEt gOals allOcatiOns

missiOn & OutrEach: EstimatEd tOtal budgEt OF $348,851

“Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and

action.”

-I John 3:18

rock spring is a justice-seeking congregation.

Through our work to eliminate hunger and homelessness through AFAC, the Crop Walk, or providing lunch for day

workers, we show our compassion and have good fellowship. We also reach out to other faith communities such as Dar Al-Hijrah and Lincoln Temple UCC as partners in faith, learning, and justice-seeking.

Our eco-justice ministry reminds us of our duty as stewards of the earth and

provides a forum for addressing environmental concerns. Pastor Janet Parker has taken the lead on these issues, supporting a myriad of activities by volunteer members.

Rock Spring is a caring and generous congregation. We have a long tradition of providing leaders and generous support for the wider UCC church in the Potomac Association.

We are a “5 for 5” church, giving in 5 special offerings that support Our Church’s Wider Mission and other denominational initiatives. These special offerings are not included in the budget.

2013 budgEt gOals allOcatiOns

global mission

The Global Mission Task Force, which has been meeting for nearly two years, is inviting the congregation to claim the identity of a Global Mission Congregation, and at the core of that commitment actively to seek a partnership in the Middle East. This recommendation of the Global Mission Task Force will be considered at the Congregational Meeting on October 14. If approved, this will be a low-cost and exciting new focus for Rock Spring.

5th sundaysOur 5th Sundays program brings us enormous opportunities to be in community with ourselves and in service to others at the same time for a pittance in terms of budget.

Members with particular interest in 5th Sundays often donate time and money to make a particular activity happen so the budget for 5th Sundays is becoming increasingly self-sufficient.

bridges to understandingBeginning with the World Peace Sunday on September 11, 2011, the subsequent classes, friendship committee, and co-hosting Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, the Italian Jesuit Priest who spoke about being expelled from Syria, Rock Spring has been building a strong relationship with the members of Dar Al-Hijrah. These efforts have been so successful because there is not only a desire for personally building increased interfaith understanding, but also a desire for genuine relationships through partnership, as well as providing a constructive and progressive public voice to combat many of the destructive misconceptions that are a dominant influence in our culture. We look forward to building on these partnerships in the year ahead.

2013 budgEt gOals allOcatiOns

pastOral carE & nurturE: EstimatEd tOtal budgEt OF $131,380

“Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those

who weep.”

-Romans 12:15

rock spring is an inclusive congregation.

We recognize that all persons are an integral part of the human family, created in the image of God. We strive to be a place where all people know

they are valued for their unique experiences and gifts.

We seek to do this in a variety of ways, one of which is through our pastoral care and caring ministry program. Our Caring Ministry program, under the auspices of the Deacons, visits and

supports our elderly and ill members who are unable to attend church or need other support.

2013 budgEt gOals allOcatiOns

All of our Pastoral staff spends time counseling members through times of personal crisis; they also support and counsel us through happy times as well, such as in marriage

or childbirth. Having the care and support of our church community through these critical passages in life is critical to our individual well-being and the well being of the Church.

The Deacons plan to extend the Caring Ministry by providing honoraria for visiting speakers to help them

develop this vital ministry to those in our church community who may not be able to join us at services. Deacons also

want to extend an extravagant welcome to new members by providing new members’ brunch when they join

the church. And finally, on the more mundane front, the hospitality supplies for the coffee hour have been getting

more expensive.

2013 budgEt gOals allOcatiOns

FOllOwing is a chart cOmparing thE 2012 budgEt tO thE prOpOsEd budgEt FOr 2013

Where does the money come from?

76% of Rock Spring’s budget is raised from pledges and weekly offerings 61% is raised from pledged giving 15% is raised from non-pledged gifts and plate offering 2% Facilities Usage 2% Miscellaneous 20% Endowment

our goal:Of the 342 active households at Rock Spring, we hope to increase participation from

179 pledges to 200 pledges.

abOvE all, rOck spring is

a cOngrEgatiOn cOmmittEd tO living thEir cOrE valuEs

iNcluSive juStice-SeekiNg

faith-filled joyful

cariNg & geNerouS

learNiNg