The Good Shepherd Lutheran Church is hosting a Food Truck Event and Basket Raffle to be raise funds to help build sustainable housing in Haiti and to help feed the poor. Baskets in the raffle will include lottery tickets, kid’s theme, Steeler tickets and more! The event will take place on Saturday, July 24 from 3pm to 7pm. Any member willing to donate a basket to raffle worth $35 to $50, please contact Diane Rossetti. Any questions, please call the church office at 412-372-2934.
Our Financial Secretary, Steve Smith, provides monthly reports to the Congregation Council – contents of which are available through financial reports made available in the church hallway and hard copies of the Council Meeting minutes. In addition, we are providing this same information here on the website. The spreadsheet below provides the actual financial information so far this year. Prior years’ information was available in the Annual Report that you would have received in January.
May 2021
Year to Date
Total Contributions and Income for Budgeted Items
$11,276
$56,979
Expenses
($5,394)
($78,053)
ActualSurplus/Deficit
$5,882
($18,420)
Transfer from Keeping God’s House
$1,359
$10,654
Adjusted Surplus/Deficit
$7,241
($6,406)
Total Contributions and Income for Budgeted Items during May totaled $11,276. This represents a decline of $2,185 versus April contributions. Contributions to the Crossroads Food Pantry (Food Bank) were $145. Contributions to Keeping God’s House during May totaled $1,650. On a Year-to-Date basis, we have now received $13,975 in contributions to Keeping God’s House.
During May, our recorded expenditures totaled $5,394. These expenditures, coupled with our May receipts, generated a surplus of $5,882. Normally, a surplus of any amount would be something to celebrate. However, we need to look a little behind the scenes for this one. During May, we utilized $12,952 in PPP Loan funds to pay our Payroll, Electricity, Natural Gas, Water, Sewer, Telephone, and Internet Connection invoices. If these expenditures would have been recorded through the normal channels, our $5,882 surplus would have been reversed to a $7,070 deficit. At the current rate, the PPP Loan account should be exhausted at the end of June.
On a Year-to-Date basis, our expenditures have totaled $78,053 during 2021. When compared to our Total Contributions and Income for Budgeted Items of $59,633, it generates a significant deficit of $18,420.
The transfer of $1,359 from Keeping God’s House to cover our church utility bills and maintenance costs improved our monthly surplus to $7,241. After five months, we have now transferred $12,014 of Keeping God’s House funds to cover church utility bills and maintenance costs. Our Year-to-Date deficit after application of Keeping God’s House funds stands at $6,406.
The Good Shepherd Lutheran Church is hosting a Food Truck Event and Basket Raffle to be raise funds to help build sustainable housing in Haiti and to help feed the poor. Baskets in the raffle will include lottery tickets, kid’s theme, Steeler tickets and more! The event will take place on Saturday, July 24 from 3pm to 7pm. Any member willing to donate a basket to raffle worth $35 to $50, please contact Diane Rossetti. Baskets should be at the church by noon on July 18. The committee will package the baskets since we want to list what is included in the basket. We will also accept monetary donations to purchase items for baskets. If you have questions call Mary at 413-559-3756.
Vacation Bible School is returning to The Good Shepherd in July and August 2021, and we couldn’t be more excited!
VBS will look a little different this year. How so? It will be totally outside, With a lesson, craft, games, snack, and fun while learning about Jesus!
We will be meeting four Wednesday nights from 6-8pm! July 21 & 28th and August 4th & 11th! Each Wednesday lesson will be different so if you can’t attend each week, no worries!
CDC guidelines will be followed as needed at the time of the event!
Back by popular demand, we will once again be worshipping outdoors at the gazebo on the following Sunday mornings at 10:30 am, weather permitting – July 4th, August 1st , September 5th
Join us on the lawn or from your car for worship outdoors! Masks are not required! In the event of inclement weather, the worship service will be held in the sanctuary.
All other Sunday worship services will be held in the sanctuary at 10:30 am.
During the weeks after Pentecost, Pastor Bob will be preaching a sermon series: “God at Work – God’s gracious actions as seen through the lives of Samuel and David.”
Please pray for Liz Smith, Gretchen Wiesner, Pastor Bob, and all the leaders of our synod as they gather online in Assembly Thursday night and all day Saturday. You can view the livestream at swpasynod.org/assembly2021 You’ll also find a virtual film festival, a coaching workshop, and the limited release podcast Faithful and Fulfilled: Stories on Purpose, for which Pastor Bob serves as an editor. Check it out!
We are once again worshiping together in the sanctuary, beginning June 6! All are welcome, regardless of vaccination status. While in the building, please continue to wear your mask and practice social distancing. Worship will continue to be offered on Zoom and YouTube, if you aren’t able to join us in person.
Gardening Angels!! If you want to officially adopt a garden bed this year please sign the poster in the Narthex. If you plant it please also plan to weed and water it!!
Our Financial Secretary, Steve Smith, provides monthly reports to the Congregation Council – contents of which were previously made available through weekly bulletins, financial reports made available in the church hallway and hard copies of the Council Meeting minutes. In the absence of that opportunity for sharing, we will be posting information on the website. The spreadsheet below provides the actual financial information so far this year. Prior years’ information was available in the Annual Report that you would have received in January.
April 2021
Year to Date
Total Contributions and Income for Budgeted Items
$13,461
$48,357
Expenses
($17,309)
($72,659)
Actual Deficit
($3,848)
($24,302)
Transfer from Keeping God’s House
$1,644
$10,654
Adjusted Deficit
($2,204)
($13,647)
Total Contributions and Income for Budgeted Items during April were $4,288 less than the month of March. On a positive note, contributions to “Keeping God’s House” were up, totaling $6,445 for the month of April. This fund can be used for facility improvements and has, over the last few years, been used to offset utility/maintenance expenses during the month. Expenditures in the month of April were down slightly from March, partially because of lower costs for snow removal and electricity but also because the natural gas expenses were paid out of the PPP loan and not from operating budgets. This trend should continue for the next two months until the PPP loan is depleted. Please note that in this chart of the church financials, “Operating Deficit” is meant to be the deficit before transferring money from Keeping God’s House to cover utility and other maintenance type expenses. “Recorded” deficit is the deficit after use of the Keeping God’s House fund for those specific expenses. It is the strong hope of the Congregation Council that through the Stewardship Campaign and the return to in person worship, contributions will increase to reduce the continually increasing deficit.
