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The Annual Congregational Meeting was on Sunday. In preparation we all received a copy of the annual report for 2015. The document is thirty pages long. Four pages are for the budget and three for financial reports, making seven pages concerned with money, or 23% of our annual report. Less than one quarter.
Another seven pages is taken up with administrative stuff -- minutes of last year's meeting, session and committee membership.
The rest of the report, more than half, deals with the life of the congregation. Baptisms, deaths, music, Christian education, fellowship, mission, outreach, worship, pastoral care and many other items that show our care for one another, our care for our church and our care for the world. There are reports on how we celebrated, how we grieved and how we worshipped.
Churches are often accused of caring more about budgets than people. The breakdown or our annual report shows just the opposite. We devote much more space to people than to money. Analysis of the budget shows that we're invested in spending our money on worship (people), missions (people), and education (people). We have to pay the hydro, maintain the building, cut the grass and pay salaries, necessary expenses in order that we may get on with our real work -- helping people.
Some people skip the annual meeting and barely glance at the annual report because they don't like the dry, administrative stuff. If you have a close look at our annual report you'll find it's not that dry at all. It reminds us of the 90th birthday celebrations, a trip to the IMAX, Christmas eve candlelight and hot apple cider. There's a picture of "Humphrey, the Lonely Cello." There's an account of a mission trip to the Dominican Republic and the evidence of God at work in that place. All in all 2015 was an exciting year at SPPC. Read all about, in the annual report.
by Alice Valdal
Welcome to the first annual Family Day in B.C. If you're wondering what to do with all your free time, you might like to read SPPC's Annual Report. It was placed in mailboxes on Sunday, so if you haven't picked yours up yet, hurry on down to the church and get your copy.
Now, I know annual reports are often considered pretty dry, but this is our church and our congregation so, the reports are really about the members of our family and how they're doing. I look at the Annual Report as a sort of newsy letter between relatives, the kind of letter that gets passed on and added to and questioned as it makes the rounds.
What's happening with Sunday morning coffee? The answer is in the Annual Report. How's the health of our Sunday School? It's in the Annual Report. Are there opportunities to be more involved? It's in the Annual Report. (I'll give you a hint on that one. There are always opportunities to be involved.)
One of the recurring themes I've heard in Bible Study is, "if it's there, there's a reason." So, I've had to give up my tendency to skip over long lists -- "the begats", for example, are more than just a list of names for our tongues to trip over. So, using that principle, I curbed my impulse to skip the pages of names and telephone numbers and read the real meat in the committee reports. I spent some time studying the "responsibilities listing" and, sure enough, I learned something. I learned that Session has ten committees. I learned that the same names show up in several places. I learned that the Presbyterian Record is listed under Christian Education. I learned that we have a "Nurture and Fellowship" responsibility and under that umbrella is everything from genealogy to the Sunshine Lunch to the Compassionate Warehouse. I learned that I don't know nearly enough about our Mission and Outreach Ministries. All that just from reading page 8 of our Annual Report. Imagine what else I can glean from our family letter.
So, happy Family Day and enjoy a good read!
P.S.: The annual Congregational Meeting will be held on Sunday, Feb.24 following worship and lunch. Child Care available.
on that one. There are always
