Our annual budget-focused voters meeting was held on December 12th (I know,this post is a bit tardy) and for the first time in the history of SOTH the voters approved a 3 year budget.    This is a significant step forward - not only does it allow us to think about and develop ministry plans  over a multi-year span, but it helps ensure that our mission and ministry work remains the primary focus .   After all, the budget is intended to support our ministry, not the other way around. 

What are the goals of this budget?

As we planned this 3-Year budget we worked to determine the mission and ministry priorities over the next 3 years and then constructed a budget to reflect our commitment to these priorities. In general, our overriding priorities include:

• Retaining the congregational tithe and a mission minded focus
• Maintaining two Pastors and two DCE’s on staff to serve the congregation and community.
• Focusing on Family Ministry

So what’s in this budget exactly?

Some highlights of our budget include:

• Eliminating or significantly reducing our long term debt by the end of 3 years
• Increasing Mission commitments by 30%
• Increasing Family Ministry Commitments by 80%
• Increasing Care Ministries by 47%
• Adding a second DCE
• Calling a Pastor when Pastor Brewer retires at the end of 2008.
• Selling House #2 and developing a long term strategy for the South Property
• Investigating a Capital Fund Campaign to expand our North Property

Why are we adopting a 3-year budget?

We are doing a 3-Year budget in order to better plan for the mission and ministry of the church in a time of pastoral and other leadership transitions. Historically we have prepared single year budgets. However, much of the mission and ministry work that we plan should be multi-year in scope. In addition, by adopting a 3-Year budget we will be reducing the annual budget work performed by the church staff and lay leaders so they can focus on mission and ministry work.

If you are following The Plan, you should be through Exodus 6 by the end of today.

Congratulations! 

You have finished the Book of Job and Genesis – and read some of the most well known stories in the Bible.  

Some of the highlights:

·         Jacobs wrestles with God (Gen 32)

·         Poor Shechem.  All he wanted was Dinah.  Then  Jacob’s sons say – sure we can all live together in peace and marry each other’s daughters…. just get circumcised first.    And the Shechemites actually did it!  Then, when they are doubled over in pain, Simeon and Levi kill them all.  "Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?"   I think I saw this on an episode of the Sopranos.

·         The whole Joseph episode – no matter how many times I read it I am amazed.  What an incredible story of forgiveness and God working through his people.  Oh, and there are the movies:

http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Joseph_and_the_Amazing_Technicolor_Dreamcoat/27904586?strkid=412358804_0_0

http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Joseph_King_of_Dreams/60003155?strkid=1093943604_0_0

http://www.netflix.com/Movie/VeggieTales_The_Ballad_of_Little_Joe/60029269?strkid=1842310607_17_0

·         Jacob blesses his sons (Reuben, Simeon and Levi don’t make out so well…and Joseph still gets all the love after all those years), and raises the status of Manasseh and Ephraim.   (These are Joseph’s sons – by the way the blessings gets reversed here, just like with Esau and Jacob).   You’d think this makes the “ 12 Tribes” the “14 tribes,”  but it doesn’t - http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/tribes.html.

And now we are on to Exodus….  the birth of Moses, the Hebrews enslaved, the stand-off in the desert …high drama ahead.

BTW, there are plenty of movies on this topic too:

http://www.netflix.com/Movie/The_Ten_Commandments/70046090?strkid=2051504711_2_0

http://www.netflix.com/Movie/The_Prince_of_Egypt/18171022?strkid=910702152_0_0

http://www.nestentertainment.com/Veggie-Tales-Moe-And-The-Big-Exit-DVD-P23831.aspx

Blessings. 

Keep Reading. 

If you are following The Plan, you should be through Genesis 31 by the end of today.

Some observations:

·         It’s all about family  … and maidservants.   

·         There’s a real Hatfield – Mccoy vibe to the descendants of Ishmael and the descendants of Isaac.   Wonder how that will turn out?

·         What’s up with Esau selling his birthright for some stew.  Not too bright Esau, but then he also married the locals.

·         I thought the whole Sarah – Hagar thing was bad.  Then I got to Jacob and Rachel / Leah / Zilpah / Bilhah.

If your having trouble keeping up with who’s who in all this there is a cool interactive genealogy site here - http://www.complete-bible-genealogy.com/names/abram_103.htm, and a more traditional family tree here -

http://www.lukemastin.com/diary/bible_family_tree.gif.

I like these passages (from Gen 26 &27).  Tension between the in-laws is obviously an ancient tradition:

When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

Later…

Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "I'm disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living."

Blessings.  Keep reading.

The Plan - Read the Bible in a Year

http://www.bibleplan.org/ch/niv/