2022 Q1 UPDATE
GEN ERO SITY GLORIFY GOD. PURSUE PEOPLE.
Building the Kingdom Through Giving
ERIC HERRSTROM — LEAD PASTOR
What happens when relationship and generosity meet? There’s a small portion of Scripture that is often overlooked in the Letter to the Philippians: “I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. So receive him in the Lord will all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your device to me.” Philippians 2.25-30 Now at first glance this may seem obscure, so let me fill in some potential gaps for you…Paul was imprisoned in a Roman jail as he is writing this. What would have been considered his sending church, Philippi, sent Epaphroditus to tend for Paul’s needs in jail. Paul was about to send Epaphroditus back to Philippi, because he had fulfilled his
Generous Relationships
role. You see, incarceration centers in the 1st century didn’t provide food or blankets for prisoners. They were either cared for and survived their imprisonment, or they died from natural causes in jail. Therefore, the Philippian church’s generosity in sending Epaphroditus to their brother, Paul, not only enabled Paul to live, but for Paul to continue to write and speak into the lives of other churches around the world. His writings were thus distributed as a result of the relational generosity the Philippian church provided. So, what happens when relationship and generosity meet…God’s MISSION is extended!
Thank you for being generous, Lake Church Pastor Eric
I M PAC T I N G W I T H I R A D I ST R I BU T IO N S Much of our lived experience is not so much a destination as it is a direction. It is the same with church leadership and structure; these things should generally take the shape of a direction. There is no “one size fits all” model for the structure of a church, but there are some directional, best practices to implement when looking at the organization as a whole. Our approach (Lake Church) to the directional and daily operations of the church originates with our Lead Pastor, Eric Herrstrom. He is pointing us to fulfill the mission
For individuals at least 70 ½ in age, traditional IRA account owners can make required minimum distributions and other distributions out of their IRA to a church and/or ministries that bypass tax implications. These distributions can make an impact on the Kingdom! Contact David Chase for more information. 817-451-4110 or dchase@lakechurchdfw.org
of The Church as the bride of Christ. Looking deeper at the regular operation, Eric leans on Alicia Garcia and David Chase to implement the mission to Glorify God and Pursue People. Alicia works closely with Eric as he leads Lake Church to worship Jesus each week during Sunday services. Alicia, gifted in her talents and abilities, brings a creative approach to worshipping through music as Eric points the church to worship Christ through the goodness and richness of Scripture. These weekly activities occur weekly and are the most visible for the entire church. continued on next page
Org Structure
STRUCTURE UMBRELLA
LEAD PASTOR EXECUTIVE PASTOR
WORSHIP PASTOR
MINISTRIES PHYSICAL OPERATIONS
Lake Church elects Deacons who, in turn, approve members for the various ministry teams. One such team is the finance team or sometimes called the stewardship team. The finance team works closely with the Executive Pastor to oversee the church’s finances, including revenue, expenses, and budget. The finance team has full access to the financial proceedings of the church. In addition to the oversight of the finance team, the church undergoes an annual evaluation by PSK. As a financial services group, PSK performs the external audit of the church finances. Additionally, Lake Church has sought and attained certification by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) which layers an additional level of integrity and accountability behind all financial management.
ADMINISTRATION FINANCE
FINANCE TEAM PSK
Going into a forest, one realizes that there are more trees than first observed, and under every ground-laid leaf, a diverse ecosystem is alive and flourishing. As you peel back the curtain of Lake Church, you begin to see the many ministries and departments that make up a much broader ecosystem than perhaps first thought. This ecosystem is where you will find the Executive Pastor and other staff members of Lake Church.
ECFA
FINANCE OFFICE
While oversight and accountability exist in every area, the focus of this highlight is the structure and accountability of the church finances. Through their oversight and audit, these three groups affirm the financial integrity in the processes and management of all church money.
ONE FUND
What is One Fund? One Fund is our effort to move away from multiple designated and restricted funds to a single Generosity Fund. This change is a move toward simplified reporting and consolidated planning. Rather than numerous “funds” to support the church ministries, One Fund (the Generosity Fund) will account for all revenues and expenses.
Continuing our existing practice, each ministry area and department will develop a spending plan (budget), and all of the individual spending plans will make up the overall 2022/2023 Ministry Spending Plan. If the church approves the Ministry Spending Plan, then the Generosity Fund will support each ministry. Unexpected expenses will arise. As those unexpected expenses are approved, One Fund will provide for
them. Similarly, all planned and unanticipated revenues will go into One Fund and support the ministry spending plan. A One Fund approach is different than our traditional financial approach. One is not right and the other wrong, but one is easier to manage than the other. A single fund, The Generosity Fund, is easier to manage. The finance team, in 2021, expressed unanimous support to move in this direction.
Please attend a town hall or reach out to David Chase if you have any questions. dchase@lakechurchdfw.org or 817.451.4110
2022 YEAR TO DATE
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES SOURCE OF FUNDS
OF LAKE CHURCH
AMOUNT
%
$446,024
61%
$13,349
2%
$5,329
1%
Impact Counseling Donations & Revenue
$73,594
10%
Recreation Ministry Revenue
$50,723
7%
Loan Retirement Donations
$6,945
1%
Gas Well Revenue
$90,191
12%
Event Revenue
$12,069
2%
-
0%
$57,754
8%
$735
0%
Investments Gain/(Loss) & Other Revenue
($19,958)
-3%
TOTAL
$736,755
Tithes #notyetfinished Missions Donations Revenue Excel Learning Academy Donations & Revenue
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION ASSETS Cash & Bank Accounts Investment Account Accounts Receivable Prepaid Expenses
LIABILITIES $1,886,015 Current Payables $476,146 Facilities Loan - Frost Bank
$88,991 $1,983,825
Church Facility Use Revenue
$655
Other Ministry Donations
$96,695
Fixed & Long-Term Assets $8,672,787
TOTAL
$11,132,298
Fundraising Revenue
TOTAL
$2,072,816
FUNDS USED
FUND BALANCES Donor Restricted Funds
$268,948
Gas Well Fund
$483,073
Investment & Cash Reserve Funds $676,146 Church Designated Funds Unrestricted Net Assets
$320,081 $7,311,234
TOTAL
$9,059,482
TOTAL LIABILITIES &
$11,132,298
FUND BALANCES
AMOUNT
%
Cost of Program Services Provided
$168,280
28%
Administration & Facilities Expenses
$142,425
23%
Missions Expenses & Support Given Out
$47,704
8%
Excel Learning Academy Operating Expenses
$12,906
2%
$101,408
17%
Recreation Ministry Operating Expenses
$56,223
9%
Loan Retirement Payments (P&I)
$40,514
7%
-
0%
$9,019
1%
-
0%
$10,322
2%
-
0%
Church Facility Funds Expended
$7,953
1%
Other Ministry Donations Expended
$7,527
1%
Other Revenue Expended
$3,884
1%
Impact Counseling Operating Expenses
Gas Well: Loan Principal Reduction Gas Well: Missions & Ministry Expenses Gas Well: Capital Expenditures Event Funds Expended Fundraising Funds Expended
The data on this page was collected from Lake Church’s internal financial statements ending February 28, 2022.
TOTAL
$608,165
RELATIONSHIPS & LISTENING
Generosity Meets Stewardship Can you name all of the characteristics of hospitality? Can you identify all the different ways that someone can show hospitality? Our church is hospitable in dozens of ways, but I don’t think I can name them all. And, are we talking about hospitality on a Sunday morning or a Saturday morning in a neighborhood. Or perhaps we are talking about showing hospitality at work or at a family gathering. Common in the thread stitched across each of those locations and events, we find a simple act of listening. Listening is often underrated as an act of hospitality. But think for a moment about the good it does for someone who wants and/or needs to be heard. Perhaps it’s a child trying to get mom or dad’s attention to show off their latest discovery. It could be in the midst of the team at work, and a coworker is hopeful someone will hear their ideas for making improvements, or it could be like the prodigal son, who is still a long way from Jesus but wants someone to care about their life. Listening is almost effortless when we are with friends or based on shared experiences. Sometimes, however, listening is hard. It can
become more difficult the less we know the person or, the more distant the shared experiences. However, it is often that person or situation we are least interested in hearing about that presents the greatest opportunity to serve. Hospitality is a way to serve others, rooted at the intersection of generosity and stewardship. Mark 10:45 reads, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve….” Every day we choose how to spend our time. We decide how we will use the time God has given us. That’s not always an easy task. By nature, we often want to be selfish, so investing in others isn’t always our first thought. Today I want to encourage you to listen as an act of hospitality. When the opportunity arises to intently listen, please don’t let it pass by. Steward your time well and invest in the person who needs to be heard. Listen.
EMBRACE GRACE
The Prodigal Son was still a long way off when the father ran to him, embraced him, and showered him with the best gifts (Luke 15:20-24). Embrace Grace is a ministry that runs to pregnant, single women who may still be a long way off (Ephesians 2:13) from knowing Jesus. Pro-love in every way, Embrace Grace offers a 12-week curriculum to disciple the ladies that choose to be a part of Embrace Grace. During the 12 weeks, one of the ways Embrace Grace comes alongside these women is by hosting baby showers. Like an Angel Tree, when Lake Church has participants in an Embrace Grace class, church members are asked to select which items they would like to donate for the baby showers. Look for shower dates on www.lakechurch.news or contact Marsci Osowski at mosowski1978@gmail.com. To learn more about Embrace Grace, please see their website at https://embracegrace.com.
ON E S I M PL E SENTENCE C A N M A K E A K I N G D OM D I F F E R E N C E
Pro Love
Would you please consider a planned gift by including Lake Church in your will? One sentence in your will can make a generous legacy gift to Lake Church. “After all my bills are paid, I want 20 percent of my estate to go to Lake Church.”
WHY I GIVE — JEFF FOWLER
Giving to our church has been something that has been a part of my family for as long as I can remember. I grew up watching both my grandparents and my parents give to their church. Perhaps the single most significant influence on my giving involves a story I learned about when I was in college. While attending my grandmother’s funeral, I was approached by one of the deacons at her church, and he asked if he could share a story with me about my grandparents. He proceeded to tell me that many years earlier, the church had been debating on whether to do some upgrades to the church facilities and that my grandmother and grandfather did not believe it was the right time to invest in this upgrade and were strongly opposed to spending money on that project at that time. He went on to share that ultimately the decision was put before the church to vote on, and the church body voted to proceed with the project. He told me that even though my grandparents had opposed the project, they ended up providing a large portion of the funding for the project. He indicated that he later asked my grandfather why they supported the decision financially even though they were so against it. He indicated that my grandfather’s response
Why I Give
to him reshaped how he looked at giving to the church. He shared that my grandfather’s response was that he had indeed opposed the project but that he and my grandmother were a part of something bigger than themselves and that their disagreement with completing the project no longer played a part in it. My grandfather went on to explain that his love for his God and his church outweighed any disagreement he might have had and that at that moment, they had the resources to support the decision, and so they did. I often think of that story and the idea that I am part of something much bigger than myself and that my love for my God and my church outweigh any disagreements that I might have either with myself or others about giving to the church.
Jeff Fowler
PASTOR DAVID CHASE — EXECUTIVE
Final Thoughts
For the last several months, I have been conducting monthly Town Hall meetings to communicate some of what is going on around the church. Communication is the purpose of this quarterly publication as well. The desire is to connect the money and the mission so that you are informed. The publication should primarily accomplish two things. First, every edition will showcase our financial position, which is done through the two-page spread of the church finances. And secondly, I hope to share stories of ministry and stewardship. You are a faithful church, and I am grateful for your heart and long-standing generosity. The Church has never been a building, but it is always about the people. Thank you for being caring people who are generous and listen well. I encourage you to continue serving as stewards of God’s gracious gifts given to you.
To keep current on all things at The Lake, please refer often to our current events site at lakechurch.news.
2912 LITTLE RD. ARLINGTON, TX 76016