April 24, 2020

Dear Lake B Family and Friends,

“One Body, Many Parts” I Corinthians 12:12

I have felt the power and truth of One Body, Many Parts in recent days.  It has sustained me and sustained our ministry of Lake Burien Presbyterian Church.  I have felt an overwhelming grace that is inexplicable. God’s Spirit is not only carrying us, but every day I sense that we are being tenderly led together toward a future that is a little unclear right now. That’s ok.  What it elicits in me is a profound gratitude for you during this time and a heart filled with praise and worship to our God.  Thank you for being faithful for doing and being “your part”.

There’s a question that keeps coming up in many of my conversations these days:  “What will church be like when we go back to gathering in person?” 

I think this might not be the best question. I’d like to offer another:  “What does the world most need to know, see, experience about God, and how does the Church best situate itself with this question in mind?”  The first question centers us and our activity, particularly Sunday mornings.  The other question centers God’s heart for the world.  I like the second question.

The view of our future remains a little hidden at this point.  I know however if we remain steadfast in our love and devotion for God and continue to ask the kinds of questions that are there to be asked,  God’s Spirit will usher in whatever needs to be through a discipleship people that God is making and shaping for such a time as this.  What a tremendous privilege we share.

Friends, be encouraged that God is with us, walking alongside us in this time. May this give each of us great peace in our hearts. I'm grateful to be on this journey with you.

Below is a letter from Anne Tiernan, our Finance Director.  If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Anne directly at finance@lbpc.org. 

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Lina

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Hello LBPC,

I am happy to take a moment to give you an update on our financial picture to date.  

While we are operating in a deficit as of the end of March,  it is one we are currently able to manage.  Even with current job losses, furloughs, etc., our community has continued to give. In fact, giving by credit card, checks and online banking has actually increased. Thank you!  Here are a few other financial boosts:

• We received a $15,000 grant from the Church Council of Greater Seattle to support our COVID relief efforts – ie staffing to support our ongoing community work; food distributions 2-3 days each week; the operational and program oversite of the community assistance fund;  mentoring and tutoring children in our partnership at the Alcove Apartment Community;  ongoing community building and organizing.  CCGS is well aware of the work of Lake B over the past 3 years - and it was a tremendous blessing to receive this unsolicited grant.  Praise God.
• Seattle Presbytery is waiving three months of per capita dues, relieving us of a monthly obligation of $686 for April, May and June. We are extremely thankful for this relief.
• The Board of Pensions is waiving the benefits portions of pastors’ salaries for 2 ½ months, saving us $2,500 a month for April, May and half of June. Benefits will not be affected;
• We submitted our application right away for the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program through Wells Fargo (our bank). Unfortunately, the funds were exhausted before our application could be processed. We hope the loan will be granted in the next round of funding.

 
Here are our numbers as of March 31:
 
Year to date income:$128,641
Expenses:$-148,016
 $(19,375)
Carryover:$-9,785
Balance:$(9,590)
  
Contributions are also coming in for the Community Assistance – COVID-19  fund - $20,550 so far! We continue to receive and respond to requests in support of our community.

 Stay safe and healthy, and may God give us strength and courage in these very difficult days.
Thankful for your faithfulness,


Anne

This graph shows a monthly breakdown of our income and expenses. The grey bars show our monthly expenses. The blue bars show actual income for each month.  In January and March, we were close to hitting our monthly goal of $40,000.  And February, we had a little more than $20,000 come in.  The cumulative gap is the $19,372 (less carryover) noted above.