Looking Ahead
As Rev. Lee shared in her recent message, there is still much uncertainty as to when WellSprings will again meet in person, and our Staff Team is beginning to imagine what the entire next church year would look like, if held remotely.
As we have seen in the past eight weeks, the “Charge of the Soul” is still with us, in new and different ways – and we look forward to continuing to explore the possibilities for connection and community that virtual programming has to offer.
Now, more than ever, it’s a privilege to serve as Board members of this community. Should you have any questions or suggestions, we’d love to hear from you. Please reach out to any of us.
New Board Members Needed Starting July 1
Members are elected to the WellSprings Board of Trustees by our congregation each spring. The Board provides guidance on the big-picture questions that determine how we live out our community’s mission and vision. Board members serve for a maximum of two, two-year terms, and Ted Howe (Vice President) and Josie Waldman (Treasurer) will both be stepping down from the Board on June 30 after four years of service.
In these unprecedented times, continuing to have strong Board leadership is essential. We’re hoping you might consider whether joining our Leaders Community as a Board member is a good fit for you to share, and practice, your gifts – especially if you think you are a good fit for the Treasurer role.
You can click here to read more about what service on the Board involves. We ask that any member of our Leaders Community be a member of the congregation; have experience serving on a Team, leading a small group, or volunteering with a congregational project; have taken our WellSprings 2.0 Springboard; and support WellSprings financially.
If you’re curious, please reach out no later than May 20th to Board President Chris Chepel for more information.
Join Us for Our Virtual Congregational Meeting on June 14
The Board will be hosting our annual congregational meeting virtually on Sunday, June 14 starting at 11 am immediately following our 10 am virtual service. During this meeting, the Board will provide congregational updates and answer your questions. More information will follow, including the meeting link and password.
Financial Update
As shown in the attached chart, Income and Expenses for the first nine months of WellSprings Congregation’s fiscal year (ending March 31, 2020) were both about $10,000 lower than budget. This means that net income is within a few hundred dollars of our budget. This is a considerable improvement over our position a few months ago driven mainly by reduced expenses associated with meeting virtually.
Many of our members are facing unexpected financial difficulties and are understandably revising their giving to WellSprings. This has the potential to impact our financial viability since our budget is almost entirely supported by member contributions. Like most things in our world today, it is too soon to know or even predict just how much of a drop off in giving we might experience. We are grateful for all the continued contributions at a time when there are so many causes in need of our resources.
We are working diligently to make sure that what we have will be enough. Most significantly (from a financial perspective), we applied for a forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan to cover two months of payroll costs. The PPP was funded by the federal government as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to help small businesses and nonprofits keep their staff on the payroll during the COVID pandemic. We are happy to report that the loan was approved and the funds deposited into our account in late April, and that we are carefully tracking the expenditure of these funds to maximize our loan forgiveness.
Thank you for all the ways you contribute to WellSprings. Each of us, in so many ways, makes it possible for WellSprings to continue to open doors and change lives, even when we have to do so from a distance.
Connecting with Us
As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out to any of us with your questions or feedback.
Sharon Bader (Secretary), Chris Chepel (President), Julie Choi (Vice President), Ted Howe (Vice President), and Josie Waldman (Treasurer)