Our association is in the process of preparing a budget to be presented at our next annual meeting in October. The Finance Committee is taking the lead in this process as our Constitution and By-laws states that they should. They will have a recommended budget at the appointed time. They are in the unenviable position of coming to terms with the fact that these are uncertain times in the financial world and our association is in the process of transitioning into a new paradigm of ministry.

Every where you look these days there are signs of financial difficulty in our national economy. This shows itself in many ways. Some examples of this are the depressed housing market, tight money in the banking industry, high cost for food, faltering automobile sales, and the high price of gasoline. These and other factors have a strong negative impact on every aspect of our economy. Our churches are part of society and most are experiencing financial difficulties also. Just because a church is involved in accomplishing the Lord’s work on earth does not make it immune to societal difficulties.

When our churches experiences financial difficulties it is only natural for our association to experience these same difficulties. This is because our only source of funds to make up our associational budget comes from our churches. When the economy experiences difficulties it is only natural for our churches to experiences difficulties. And when our churches experience difficulties it is only natural for our association to experience difficulties. This is the natural course of events.

Compounding this problem is the fact that we are in the midst of transitioning into a new way of functioning as an association. We are changing our focus from associational focus to church focus. Associational led ministry is not our goal but empowering our churches to their God called ministry is our goal. The new associational structure we voted on last annual meeting reflects this change.

I share this information with you to encourage you to be in prayer for this entire budgeting process. Pray that the Lord will give us all wisdom in dealing with the current economic reality. We need God’s wisdom in how to best fulfill our purpose.

Also, churches are encouraged to review their current giving level to the association and increase this amount if possible. If each of us does a little it will add up to a lot and this will help in the coming year.