October 2019 finance update from Conference Council on Finance and Administration

Submitted by the Rev. Dr. C. Dennis Shaw
Statistician, Mountain Sky Conference, UMC

This is the third update from the Mountain Sky Conference's Council on Finance and Administration. As we indicated in our last two articles, through the end of month August and end of month September, the message for much of the year has been mixed. With income down, we have suppressed expenses to ensure that we finish the year in a positive cash position. With that said, October was a positive turn that we discuss below.

Figure 1 shows aggregate income to the Conference since Jan. 1, 2018.

The green columns represent how we did last year. The orange columns represent how we are doing this year. The solid line represents the income needed to meet our 2018 and 2019 budgets. 

Figure 2 shows income by month. The same green (2018) and orange (2019) logic applies. The solid line, in this case, represents the necessary income by month for us to have sufficient income to meet our budget.

Our October 2019 income exceeded our October 2018 income. This is the third such occurrence this year and this is good news, and your Council on Finance and Administration says thank you. We will provide you an update on this again as the information for November and year-end becomes available. It would be good for November and December 2019 income to at least equal income in 2018.

Figure 3A displays where we are in terms of income compared to expenses. We continue to have constrained our spending in terms of General and Jurisdictional Apportionments as well as experiencing some delays in hiring actions. We continue to monitor expenses closely.
Figure 3B focuses only on the difference (in a cumulative, year to date position by month) between revenue (income) and expenses. The columns are shown as black, as we are “in the black.” If there had been periods, and there are none for 2019, where cumulative expenses exceeded income, we would have shown those as “red” and as negative numbers. Again, we are in the black for the year.

To restate a point from our last two-month end reports to you, "The Mountain Sky Budget is missionally focused. The mission of the Mountain Sky Conference is to live in God’s grace and abundance as we lead a re-energized peaceful and compassionate movement to claim the life-changing love of Jesus Christ for ALL people." Your CF&A will continue to focus on that movement focused mission and how our spending impacts that movement.

Please direct comments and questions to revdennisshaw@gmail.com or the Conference Treasurer Noreen Keleshian at nkeleshian@mtnskyumc.org or 303-325-7051.