Mostly due to congregational contributions, revenue has moved ahead of budget $12,000 over the last two months. Thanks for your faithful and generous congregational giving! Expenses have exceeded the budget by approximately $2,000.
A sampling of the various activities of the conference during the months of June & July:
• $20,000 in Missional Operations Grants was disbursed. Deep Run East,Whitehall, Ripple Allentown and Rock received grants for leadership development. Nueva Vida Norristown New Life and Souderton received grants for outreach ministries. Good Shepherd received a grant for their work with new Spanish-speaking congregations inMaryland.
• Conference staff and board members attended the Mennonite Church USA bi-annual convention.
• Staff have started preparing for the Conference Assembly in November: worship planning sessions, scheduling speakers, writing committee reports, arranging for exhibits, childcare and translation.
Giving Opportunities:
• By the end of this year the Area Conference Leadership Funds will be depleted. Fifty-four persons, so far, have received scholarships in the last ten years. Developing new church leaders and assisting those currently in church leadership is important for the future of the conference.
• In previous years, Franconia Conference has been able to assist congregations to send delegates to the bi-annual MCUSA convention. This year, due to a shortage of funds, we were not able to do this.
These are just two of many opportunities that will be missed in future years, without your assistance.
