Dear Trinity Family,
The COVID-19 pandemic has been discouraging and disruptive, but one encouraging
trend has been the stability of the congregation’s finances.
As the pastor of the congregation, I am encouraged that we are not facing financial
stress. We have been able to continue paying staff their regular salaries.
We have been able to pay all our bills, and we have been meeting the budget for
this year. We have not had to make any significant cuts and the congregational
income is slightly greater than our expenses.
I thank God for this stable financial position. I pray that it is a sign of the Spirit
at work in our lives, making us good stewards of God’s money for the sake of
God’s ministry.
Our stable financial position puts the congregation in a good position to move
forward. We do not have to try and scale back or make cuts. Instead we can discern
God’s will, carry out the ministry that we are called to, and not be held back
by financial stress.
I pray that when this pandemic ends, we do not seek to move back. I pray that
we do not try to simply preserve and save what we had been before, but instead
that we would begin the next stage of our journey toward the cross as we seek
God’s kingdom. God’s people are often tempted to look back—like Lot’s wife
(Genesis 20:26), and we often want to return to where God has just freed us
from—like the Israelites in the desert (Numbers 14:4). I believe God is giving us
the resources to move forward.
I am encouraged that this congregation has been good stewards of money and
I am excited about where God is calling us. We will have to discern together and
so I ask what is God calling us to do, as Jesus’ Church, in this place?
Your Servant In Christ,
Pastor Scott C. Egbers