Pursuing Our Purpose
During the two years of the pandemic, New Hope adapted to the shifting circumstances and continued to pursue the purpose of making new disciples. In the face of challenges, we continued to be the church, and God provided a way for us to reach our community and beyond with the hope of Christ. As with the pandemic, we will adapt and pursue our purpose through these inflation-driven times.
Some Encouraging News
Things are always moving forward at New Hope, and I want to share a few points of praise:
1) Each Sunday, through on-campus ministries (worship, Hope Groups, etc.), off-site venues and livestream services, over 1,000 people are being reached with the gospel of Jesus.
2) Our summer ministries for kids and students have gone incredibly well, and we have impacted hundreds of young lives.
3) Through the generous and faithful giving of New Hopers, the budget goal gap has gotten smaller. Through various efforts described in the budget update below, in a little over a month, we have gone from being 9% behind our budget goal (Jan.-Jun.) to now (July) only being 5% behind. We've made significant progress in a short amount of time!
Ministry Budget Update + Details
Steps to Adapt: The New Hope staff team, with the approval of the Finance Committee, cut $190,580 from our 2022 budget, which represents 7.7% of the total budget. Our staff team pulled together to figure out ways to keep pursuing ministry while cutting back on some ministry resources. We have also "slammed the brakes" in terms of ministry spending since June 14, and will carefully guard spending until the gap between giving and budget goal shrinks even further.
Progress Being Made: During the month of July, we shrank the budget gap by $21,000 while still supporting on-going needs of the church. This means year-to-date, we are less than 3 weeks behind our budget goal.
Good News: The good news is that our attendance is up, with many new people visiting and engaging in the ministries of New Hope each week! Our New Hope family continues to give generously of their time and resources, and we are truly grateful.
I believe, along with many others, that sacrificing for the cause of Christ is worth it. I encourage you to pray about how you and your family can continue (or even start) giving of your time and treasure to reach our community with the hope of Jesus!