2026 Proposed Budget
Your council is once again presenting a deficit budget for your approval. That means that the amount of money we intend to spend is larger than the amount of money we are reasonably projecting to take in for 2026. We have had deficit budgets for a few years now, and God has been faithful to us and provided the means to balance our actual spending against our actual income.
The largest item in our budget, as is the case with many organizations, is the salary and benefits for our employees, comprising nearly 69% of our entire budget. We pay our pastor just slightly more than the Southern District guidelines recommend, and we pay our part-time employees a fair wage for their services. Although we provided a modest increase in wages for all of our employees, certainly the biggest contributing factor to the increase in our payroll and benefits categories is the cost of health insurance. Healthcare costs are spiraling, and that's reflected in the increased cost of health insurance for our Pastor's family (as is customary, we don't provide health insurance for our part-time employees). Also, we are granting our Pastor his first sabbatical in his 29 years of service at Christ the King, which adds an additional $10,000 to our budgeted expenditures this next year.
The second biggest category in our budget is our facilities, which makes up just over 16% of our total budget. These represent the costs of "keeping the lights on" at Christ the King and being able to operate our facilities so that the people of God can use them in their mission to Know Christ and to make Him known.
The 85% that makes up personnel and facilities is not really negotiable. They're fixed expenses that we, as the congregation of Christ the King, are responsible for paying. The final 15% of our budget is for programs and services that our church operates for the benefit of its members and the community, like Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, Benevolence, and Devotional materials (like Portals of Prayer).
Christ the King has been blessed beyond measure in that every year that we've passed a deficit budget, God has provided the means to pay for our expenses. We've received donations in excess of what we budgeted to take in (based on donation history), and your council has been judicious in its spending, sometimes putting off planned purchases or looking for less-expensive or more-efficient ways to deliver programs and services. While we give thanks to almighty God for providing these resources through His people, we do not want to count on additional contributions as a means of balancing the budget. Accordingly, we are proposing that we cover any deficit remaining at the end of 2026 with some of our reserves, which are currently in excess of $100,000.
If you have any questions about the budget, please don't hesitate to ask Scott Dart (president) or Kaitlyn Hencinski (treasurer). We want you to be well-informed so you can vote what the Lord writes on your heart concerning our budget.
The largest item in our budget, as is the case with many organizations, is the salary and benefits for our employees, comprising nearly 69% of our entire budget. We pay our pastor just slightly more than the Southern District guidelines recommend, and we pay our part-time employees a fair wage for their services. Although we provided a modest increase in wages for all of our employees, certainly the biggest contributing factor to the increase in our payroll and benefits categories is the cost of health insurance. Healthcare costs are spiraling, and that's reflected in the increased cost of health insurance for our Pastor's family (as is customary, we don't provide health insurance for our part-time employees). Also, we are granting our Pastor his first sabbatical in his 29 years of service at Christ the King, which adds an additional $10,000 to our budgeted expenditures this next year.
The second biggest category in our budget is our facilities, which makes up just over 16% of our total budget. These represent the costs of "keeping the lights on" at Christ the King and being able to operate our facilities so that the people of God can use them in their mission to Know Christ and to make Him known.
The 85% that makes up personnel and facilities is not really negotiable. They're fixed expenses that we, as the congregation of Christ the King, are responsible for paying. The final 15% of our budget is for programs and services that our church operates for the benefit of its members and the community, like Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, Benevolence, and Devotional materials (like Portals of Prayer).
Christ the King has been blessed beyond measure in that every year that we've passed a deficit budget, God has provided the means to pay for our expenses. We've received donations in excess of what we budgeted to take in (based on donation history), and your council has been judicious in its spending, sometimes putting off planned purchases or looking for less-expensive or more-efficient ways to deliver programs and services. While we give thanks to almighty God for providing these resources through His people, we do not want to count on additional contributions as a means of balancing the budget. Accordingly, we are proposing that we cover any deficit remaining at the end of 2026 with some of our reserves, which are currently in excess of $100,000.
If you have any questions about the budget, please don't hesitate to ask Scott Dart (president) or Kaitlyn Hencinski (treasurer). We want you to be well-informed so you can vote what the Lord writes on your heart concerning our budget.
