On Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023, I gave a quick financial update. You can watch it here (from about 45:25 – 50:30).
If you prefer to read the information, here are some of the main points.
- We’ve been praying to end the year in the black and to have a $50,000 surplus.
- Last update: things weren’t going well (2023 was a hard year, in our country and in the financial world). We were running a skeleton budget and if things didn’t change drastically, we might be in a place where we would be letting go of some staff, which we did not want to do. We have an incredible staff, and key ministries that they run. I couldn’t image saying, “let’s forget about kids ministry or youth ministry.”
- WE DIDN’T MAKE THE YEAR. Had a shortfall of about $140,000, which is massive. That wiped out our cash flow and left us with a lot of meetings toward the end of the year to figure out what happens in 2023.
- Here’s the good news: we found a way to keep all our staff and pay all our staff.
- We have some creative things we’re working on and firming up. I’ll fill you in when I can.
- Our management team (the ones all our staff report up through), came to this place where we voluntarily offered to take a pay cut, so that we can get through this hard season in 2023.
- Not sharing this you to say woe is us. I want you to know that we so believe in the work that we’re doing here at Lakeside to help people discover and fully follow Jesus, to have a deep faith and a wide embrace, to be an oasis for people who are burned out on religion. We so believe in that vision that we’re willing to invest in it.
- We know we can’t cut our way to the future, so here are a few things we’re doing:
- We’re exploring ways to leverage our land for funds.
- Our rentals are increasing. Coming out of the pandemic, we lost a ton of funds from rentals because no one was renting buildings (because no one was getting together). We now have a volunteer – Alan Garrett – who has devoted part of his retirement to helping us get our rentals going.
- I think 2023 is a year of rebuilding for us. It’s no secret that the last three years have been really hard. But the words I have for 2023 are clarity and foundations.
Uncertainty has been a big factor, and I just believe we have clarity to move strength and with vision.
Friends, it’s a hard season, I’m not going to lie to you. We are going to get through this. We are investing in the future and I’m inviting you to join us.
If you’d like to parter with us, you can give online. And you can continue to be praying for us; we’re trusting that God is going to provide.
We’re not just reliant on ourselves, but we really do rely on a God who is bigger than all of these things.
We know some people are struggling financially, which is why we’re offering a 6-week money course led by our Operations Director, Kevin Lloyd. We want to help people thrive financially. This course helps anyone get a better handle on their personal finances. It begins Jan. 24 and you can sign up here.