Dear Friends,
When Jesus met with the disciples after his death amidst reports of resurrection, there was not only a great deal of confusion, but also a healthy amount of doubt. What seemed to be solid evidence (a dead body) was suddenly thrown into question. If dead bodies don’t stay dead; what else might not be true? And yet, there Jesus was, standing right before them! The level of mental rewiring necessary to keep up with this turn of events was dizzying. And yet, in the wake of that new reality, a new way of following Jesus emerged. Because he would no longer walk among us and directly teach us, it meant that his followers would need to live into their discipleship in ways that were authentic to who they were and the gifts they carried.
I thought of all this as I reflected on the past year. From staffing transitions to new processes, and even new people, dizzying might be the word that some folks would use to describe their experience. In the midst of all this transition, a new way is emerging, as we have experimented with and discovered new ways of doing life together. This past Sunday, we gathered for our monthly Community Sunday meal and enjoyed some of the best chili that San Francisco has to offer. We have also enriched our connection to one another through the sharing and hearing of testimonies in worship, small group studies, and fellowship opportunities like our recent mid-week meet up at The Emporium (ask Joshua about my Dance Dance Revolution skills). In addition to these expressions of life together, I wanted to provide you with a couple of key updates.
FINANCIAL OUTLOOK
As we look to the close of our fiscal year (August 31), I wanted to give you an update on our finances. Our budget for this year is $2.5M. Our income to date is $1.9M. Our projected income is $2.2M. This means that we are on track for a $300k shortfall. We are thankful to have a reserve to draw from but invite you to consider making a special gift to help close this gap. If your financial situation has improved over the year or you didn’t get a chance to make a gift for this fiscal year, please consider making a gift now so we can begin our next fiscal year with strength! And, of course, if you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
The Breakdown
- Last fall, we gave folks the opportunity to make a financial pledge for this fiscal year, which resulted in 103 pledges totaling $1.29M in commitments from the community. As of July 11th, $1.1M (84%) has been fulfilled.
In addition, unpledged giving totaled $626,360. This included 42 first time givers, whose contributions totaled $22,416.00
STAFFING TRANSITIONS
Last month, we announced the hiring of a new Worship Director (Jason Morrell) and have seen our Youth Director (Rev. Joshua Jalandoon) expand his ministry portfolio to include Community Formation. These changes are all the direct result of processes intentionally guided by multiple perspectives – diverse hiring teams, a congregational survey, and one-on-one conversations. A couple of things that have emerged from this process include:
- The potential hiring of a Pastoral Resident (more to come on this soon)
- A new position search in the area of Communications and Administration. Please spread the word about this role with those who you think might be a good fit and distribute it among your networks.
I am excited about the ways in which our leadership team is shaping up! The particular and distinct perspectives, gifts, and spirit that each person brings will help us to lead and care for you well. Even so, please continue to pray for us as we carry forward God’s work at City Church in transformative and vital ways. Like those disciples long ago, we are finding our way forward with faithfulness and a commitment to trusting that the same God who saw fit to return to us from death guides us into new life together.
Faithfully,
Pastor Emily
P.S. Don't forget that this Sunday is the San Francisco Marathon! Plan your travel to Sunday Worship accordingly.