“Your church needs you Today, Tomorrow, and in the Future.”
1. 2017 End of Year Summary
Our church budget includes several broad categories: 1) staff, 2) operations, 3) mortgage, 4) programs, and 5) apportionments. In 2017, $463,007 was given to the budget and $461,083 was spent. The result was a surplus of $1924. Yea and hallelujah! In addition to meeting the budget needs, $632,359 was given to “specials” (missions and projects). The $632,359 includes $557,750 received for the building debt and applied to the debt principal. Our monthly mortgage payment is now $8,422. Our 2018 budget is $448,548 which is down by 4.8%. Most of the reduction is due to the mortgage payment and the success of working with Ideal Impact on our heating and air conditioning bills.
Remember, God has given us our church as an outreach to make a difference in Cedar Hill and surrounding communities. Thank you for your commitments and giving.

2. Building Debt Program (Grand Idea) Review/Comments
As we have indicated many times, our church building debt provides us with opportunities as well as a major challenge. In 2016, our monthly payments were $11,417. This payment represented almost 30% of our budget! Opportunities abound with our congregation and in our community, but we were hamstrung without available surplus finances.
In late 2016, the Grand Idea gained form and definition. The idea was to pay down or eliminate the building debt by thinking and praying, “Why not?” Some people might call this thinking out of the box. What evolved was an inhouse challenge to knock down 10 bowling pins worth $150,000 each. The questions we asked were “how”, “when”, and “why”. The “how” included qualified IRA/401K minimum required distributions, stocks, and bonds. These are monies that would not impact everyday expenses. The “when” was a 2017 and 2018 campaign so that the results would be almost immediate. The results were $830,000 committed by the end of 2018. $557,750 was received by the end of 2017 which reduced our mortgage debt to $768,870 and our monthly payment to $8,422. That payment is now 23% of our budget. The ”why” is because we are all part of First United Methodist Church in Cedar Hill, Texas, and the Great Commandment is to “love God wholeheartedly and our neighbors as ourselves”.
In summary, we have the momentum. Several gave first-time gifts last month. We ask that you, too, prayerfully consider joining us in this opportunity. Is it too much to consider eliminating the debt by 2020?