• Finance Committee

Committee Composition

The Committee currently is comprised of nine members, which includes members representing various financially related activities of the church along with the Parish Board President and Treasurer as ex officio members.  The current members and their other responsibilities include:

• Ben Bauer: Chair, Finance Committee
• Mark Thurber:  Chair, Investment Review Committee.
• Charles Hamann:  Coordinator, Planned Giving Program; Charlie is a practicing estate attorney.
• Bob McGaw:  Member, Property Care Committee.
• Liz Keating: Member, Finance Committee
• Doug Burden: Member, Investment Review Committee.
• Stefan Frank, Parish Board President.
• Marilyn Yee, Parish Board Treasurer.

Goals, Objectives and Responsibilities

The Committee exists to advise and support the church in general and the Parish Board in particular, about various matters that relate to the financial well-being of the church and its operations.  More specifically, the Committee’s activities may be characterized as a mix of recurring, often annual, responsibilities along with one-time, project-specific tasks with a defined beginning and end.  Examples include:

Working with the leaders of the annual pledge drive to advise and assist in its planning and execution.

Reviewing, authorizing and advising fund-raising activities seeking more than $1,000 that take place on church property, or target the church community as potential donors to a church-sponsored project.

Reviewing the performance of the church’s endowment and discussing related issues with the Investment Review Committee.

Reviewing and advising the Treasurer during the formation of the annual church budget.

Coordinating communication of financial information to the congregation.

Initiatives and Projects

This year, in addition to its recurring responsibilities, the Committee was involved in the following projects and initiatives:

• Provided finance-related support for the church auction, including tracking auction bids, generating invoices, collecting funds along with any related follow-up work.
• Provided support and feed-back to the Parish Board for multi-year budget planning and ministerial compensation packages.
• Conducted a preliminary pledge survey to assess the potential impact of the economy on the pledge drive for the upcoming fiscal year.
• Developed materials for a planned giving campaign.  The planned giving campaign was postponed this year due to the current unfavorable economic climate but may be reconsidered for sometime next year.
• Worked with the Treasurer to monitor on a monthly basis the fiscal status of the church using financial measures for cash management and pledge receipts relative to the overall budget.