Stewardship

Click or tap below to learn more about:

♥
Generosity

Stewardship Campaign

The annual stewardship campaign is underway, and a mailing has been sent out. Please prayerfully consider your pledge this year and return your pledge card or give online by November 19th, Pledge Dedication Sunday. 

The theme of our stewardship season this year is Practicing Generosity: Sharing our Resources, Wisdom, Justice, and Power. We know that being generous in our life of faith goes far beyond budgets and meetings. It is part of our practice of faith and it is nurtured and developed in many ways.

As you prayerfully consider your pledged giving for 2024, consider what we can do together. Each gift of resources, time, and service has an impact on what we, as a church, can accomplish for the mission and ministry of Christ in this particular place, at this particular time. Sometimes, the problems of the world and of our own lives feel too overwhelming, and we wonder what difference we can make as just one person. But when we come together as a church, we are part of the body of Christ in the world. And when “we practice the generosity Jesus inspired through his words and deeds when we share resources, spread wisdom, promote justice, and redistribute power. We become partners with God and participate in the work of God’s kingdom. Generosity is our love in action.”

♥

Church Expenses & Income 2023

This is not a full description of our expenses and income for 2023, but highlights two issues of concern for our congregational budget — increased electricity rates and decreased regular offering.

Electricity Rates:

Our church expenses have been significantly affected by increases in electric utility rates over the past three years. Because we have electric baseboard heating, our electricity use is substantially higher in the winter months than in the summer. From 8/20–7/21 to 8/22–7/23 our electric utility bill has increased by 74% from $9,422/year (average $785/month) to $16,395/year (average $1,366/month). This is entirely due to increases in the price per kWh, and not to increased electricity use. The data are summarized in the charts below.

Our electricity use did not increase, but was stable over these three years.

There is little we can do, in the short run, to decrease our electricity use. We already use “smart” thermostats to minimize our electricity use. Session is exploring options such as roof-top solar panels or heat pumps to increase our energy efficiency. We have engaged an “energy audit” from Eversource and there may be additional potential savings from actions such as switching over to LED lighting. In the meantime, increased congregational giving will be needed to keep up with growing energy expenses.

Regular Offering:

For 2022, the BPC session had budgeted $140,000 for the regular congregational offering; actual receipts in 2022 were $137,104 or 98% of the budgeted amount.

For 2023, we budgeted $130,000 for the regular offering. So far, by the end of October, 2023, we have received $92,690 in regular offering, which is only 86% of where we would hope to be 10 months into the year ($130,000 × 10/12 = $108,333). This shortfall is illustrated in the chart below:

Please keep these budgetary realities in mind as you consider your estimated giving for 2024.

♥
Online Giving

Click, Tap, Give . . .
Things to Know about Online Giving​

When you click on “♥DONATE♥” in the Upper Right Corner of our website’s page header menu, you will be linked to a donation form which will allow you to make your financial contributions to the church using a credit/debit card or directly from your checking account. This secure online payment form is provided by the Presbyterian Foundation, and is safe and private. Their systems follow Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards, and donor information is never shared with anyone except the church or ministry receiving their gifts.

Here are screen shots of our website menu and donation forms:

​Here are the steps:

  • Create a User Profile using the online form; or choose “Log In” if you have already created a profile
  • Once you create your profile and log in, you may select giving to the “General Fund” or to “Special Offerings PC(USA).” The special offerings category can be used for annual denominational offerings such as the “Christmas Joy Offering” and “One Great Hour of Sharing.” The general fund category can be used for regular pledge offerings and also for special local congregational offerings (e.g., Deacons Fund, Community Dinners, Haitian Refugees, etc.).
  • Next, select whether your contribution is a one time gift or a recurring gift.
    • For example, you could make a “General Offering” contribution to BPC one time, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually; or make a one time donation to one of the PC(USA) special offerings.
  • Pressing “Continue” leads to a screen, where you add details about your donation.
  • Next, choose the method you want to use to pay for your contribution
    • For example, your credit/debit card you entered in your profile, a different card not already in your profile, or a fund transfer from your checking account.
  • There is a “Notes” field where you can specify how your donation should be used
    • For example, you could designate a donation to the General Fund as “regular offering,” to “per capita,” or to “deacons’s fund.”
    • Likewise a donation to Special Offerings PC(USA) could be designated to “Christmas Joy Offering” or “Pentecost Offering.”
  • Every donation will receive an automatic acknowledgment email. The Presbyterian Foundation also provides a year-end gift summary to donors for tax reporting.
  • You can cancel or edit your recurring authorization at any time to adjust to changing financial circumstances .