Hi Parkway People,

Over the last few Sundays, I've devoted some time during both services to give a full picture of Parkway's finances, as we've adopted a new budget and stepped into the 2025-26 fiscal year. 

Part of why I've done this is to show responsibility and transparency - it is personally important to me to show everyone that contributes to Parkway's work that your staff and leadership have managed finances so that, for two years in a row, we have ended the year in the black - spending less money than we received. 

The other motivation at play has been a mini-campaign to address falling income over the past two years. In our budget planning, we determined that we were looking at a gap of approximately $40,000 between expected income/giving and budgeted expenses in the coming year. 

Part of our strategy in addressing this has been to reorganize sources of funding in the budget, manage down costs, and move some line items - such as a family retreat, improvements to student ministry space, and replacing older but still functional equipment to a 'wish list' while we wait for the full income picture in 2025. 

We have also asked Parkway families to consider increasing their giving in the year to come. 

We're tracking responses using the returned Help Parkway Thrive in 2025 cards that are available in the Worship Center.

After 4 weeks, I can give you an update on the response:

As of February 25th, we have received 18 returned cards for a pledged increase of approximately $25,000.

This goes a long way towards addressing the initial funding gap in the budget! This generosity will be an important part of building on Parkway's momentum in the year to come. Thank you for your response!

This coming Sunday, March 2nd, is the date we set for our goal of receiving 45 cards to be returned to the box on the Worship Center desk, so Parkway may still receive more responses. Once this mini-campaign closes, I will send a final update on our financial picture.

Two last things:

A Frequently Asked Question: I've turned in the card -- will Parkway adjust my giving based on the card?

Answer: No. We do not have access to your giving log-in, bank account, etc. Any increase to your giving will need to be made by you through logging into Parkway's giving portal. You can access that giving portal here.

An Ask for Information: If you have responded to Parkway's ask for increased giving, but skipped the card and just logged into the portal, will you please reach out to me (justin@parkwayumc.org/979.299.8619) to let me know? This will help us to more accurately plan income and expenses for the year to come!

Thank you for your responses, your generosity, and your commitment to Parkway's work and ministry. I know talking about money and giving is the cliché dreaded subject of churches - but we have to be able to talk about the hard things well if we are going to commit ourselves to the work of demonstrating God's grace and inspiring a hope filled journey with Jesus. 

As always, please reach out to me if you have questions or concerns. 

I'm excited for what's to come!

Justin