This morning I'm so thrilled with the leadership of our board of directors last night that I woke up exceptionally early (5AM). The picture on the right was taken last night during the meeting from our patio, where we worked until nightfall forced us inside. Our focus last night was on our finances. Here are some of the things we decided:
- We established what we are calling a Matthew 25 Fund and we decided to tithe 10% of our general fund contributions into this fund. This fund will be used to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe those needing clothing, provide shelter to those needing shelter, and to assist the visitation of the sick and the imprisoned.
- We established a long term savings account from which we will save for long term capital expenditures.
- We established a spending plan for the next 12 months. (That sounds so much better than the word, 'budget,' don't you think?)
- We decided to purchase a used sound system.
- We decided to begin paying the pastor a salary. Yep, after nine long months without compensation I am now among the employed and the compensated. Woo hoo!
We were definitely high tech last night. Rich brought over a large flat panel monitor and Jonathan brought a laptop computer. Rich, Jonathan and Shaun had met as a special financial planning committee on Monday. They presented their plan with all the flair of a top-notch financial organization. However, anyone watching us would not have been fooled, as we were all dressed in shorts and eating strawberry shortcake. I think I'm learning to love this job. Can you tell?
