Quarterly Business Meeting
First Baptist Church, Bloomington, IL
Quarterly Congregational Business Meeting
Sunday, February 21, 2021
by Zoom following the 10:00 AM Online & In-Person Worship Service
Vice-Moderator Mary Jo Douglass opened the meeting with prayer. A quorum was present.
Approval of Minutes – Glen Wetzel made a motion to approve the November 22, 2020, Congregational Meeting minutes
which were available on the website and at the Welcome Desk. Jay Hartzler seconded. Motion approved.
Celebrations and Updates – Brian and Gabrielle Hastings shared how pleased they are with the congregation’s response
to helping the homeless during this winter weather. A check for $2,500 was given to PATH to help provide housing via hotels for the homeless who are unable to stay in the local shelters ($1,500 from the Fellowship Fund and $1,000 from
Missions). The church has also committed to providing 20 cold lunch meals once a week on Thursdays for four weeks to the homeless in the hotels. Gabrielle is coordinating this project. There is also enough included for a breakfast and a
snack. A second team has now been organized to provide meals on Mondays.
Treasurer Glen Wetzel
- The year 2020 ended with offerings approximately $300,000 vs. a budget of approximately $304,000. Just $4,000 off during a pandemic year is pretty good. Expenses were a lot less than budgeted during the pandemic. January is typically a slower month for giving, but January 2021 was the best January we have had in five years. We received $29,759 vs. a budget of $24,269.
- Last week the church put a check in the mail to pay off the $200,000 bank loan which began in 2013 to repair the parking lot and windows We have been chipping away at paying the loan off over the years mainly with Hilliard Lyons market gains, and the last payment was paid with checking account cash flow. Glen thanked the congregation for our giving which makes us able to help the homeless through PATH, keep the church ministries going, and pay off the loan.
Stewardship Committee Chair James Martin –
- The Stewardship Committee picked up a project which had been brought to the Board in 2018 and then put aside. A copy of the two page “Memorial and Bequest Gift Guidelines” is available on the website and at the Welcome Desk. The purpose of this is to outline the acceptance and disposition of memorials and bequests given to the church. Some are given as designated gifts and others are given unrestricted. The Board decides what would be the best use of the unrestricted gifts. All gifts are humbly appreciated. Anyone with questions is invited to reach
out to James or other members of the Board. - James reviewed with charts and graphs the 2021 Budget. Budgeted income is $340,203, and Budgeted Expenses are $375,618.28 which leaves an expected deficit of $35,415.28. With the initial committee requests, there was a $60,000 deficit. The Board took that seriously and talked about different ways expenses could be cut. Pastoral (which includes Brian’s and Cheri’s salaries and benefits), Personnel, and Physical Plant make up 80% of the Budgeted Expenses. Including Missions makes that 90%. When there is a deficit, two options are to either increase giving or decrease expenses. The pandemic has greatly reduced expenses when people were not in the building and committees did not spend many of their planned expenses. The Trustees have been working hard to reduce the expenses of Physical Plant such as reductions in mowing and plowing. The Board approved the $35,415.28 expected deficit budget at its January meeting, and the actual year-end deficit will be reimbursed by a withdrawal from unrestricted funds in Hilliard Lyons to the General Fund. James showed a Dow Jones 100 year Historical Chart where overall the market has continued to climb. It took a dive in March 2020 due to the
pandemic but now is higher than it was prior to the pandemic. James closed by asking the congregation to prayerfully consider increasing our giving in 2021.
Mary Jo noted the Board appreciates questions and feedback. Janie Rempel expressed words of thanks to the Board for all the hard work. James noted there is a need for someone to unlock/lock the church building on March 7, 6:00-7:00 PM, for the second team preparing lunches for the homeless. This team gives State Farm employees a chance to donate their time and efforts.
Brian gave the closing prayer at 11:35 AM, and Mary Jo adjourned the meeting.
Respectfully submitted, Debbie Stumm, Clerk
