St John's General Fund

James writes:
Every accountant loves a graph. In the one below, our little St John’s icon shows the net surplus on St John’s General Fund that we had planned for at the end of June. The red line shows where we are now. This reflects cash offerings not received and lost income from tenants – a total impact of £4,500!

From June onwards, the blue line shows how PCC thought the year would unfold if restrictions continued. A big erosion of our funds! Happily, the red line shows that we’re tracking ahead of this and we’re managing things carefully and people’s giving has been generous.

Things could improve in the Autumn if we start using the building. The three big arrows show the effect of things like cash/envelope offerings coming back or even our tenants returning. Although this would improve things, we will be unable to break even. Even in the best-case improvement we will still draw on our reserves this year to meet our obligations. What happens in the New Year is also key. We cannot continue on a downward trend indefinitely. What can you do?

  • Pray – that restrictions can soon be safely lifted, and we can meet again and welcome others to use our building;
  • Give thanks – Though we are likely to suffer significant financial loss, we have maintained reserves to cope with these difficult times. Our finances are being carefully managed by PCC to ensure that financial losses are limited wherever possible;
  • Consider how you can help – We recognise how tough things are for many households. If you can continue giving as you so generously have, standing orders can be a great way of helping St John’s cash flow and James can help you with this. If this is not possible we fully understand; your continued prayers, practical help and Christian love are the greatest contributions of all.

In a Nutshell

Our financial position is a great deal worse than we were expecting at the end of last year. But we are doing rather better than we feared back in March.