Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I hope my letter finds you and your family healthy as you prepare for a Festive Covid-19 Safe Christmas celebration. No large gatherings, masks both indoors and out, and 6 foot of distance when required. Like you I am looking forward to the end of this year. It has had high points; start of construction of the new facility. Covid-19 being the horrible low. Under normal conditions we would be having our end of year voters meeting, including voting for BOD officers and budget presentation for approval. Normal year this is not! Therefore, once again for safety reasons we are not holding our congregational meeting. In lieu of presenting a new budget we plan to remain with the current 2020 Budget into 2021 until the new building is operational (hopefully March 2021). At that time, we will be able to determine our additional expenses and prepare an accurate budget. We also hope to resume our regular congregational meetings at that time too. The actual ribbon cutting for the ACC facility will be sometime in May. The only change at this point in the 2021 budget is the Pastor’s salary. As throughout Grace’s history we base Pastor’s salary on LCMS salary matrix; As of 2021 he will have 10 years’ experience with a Masters of Divinity degree. For 2021 his salary will be $75,523 which is $1099 higher than last year. In call documents we agreed to pay for family health insurance which is covered by Coli’s Martin County School board policy. Therefore, Grace contributes $3600 to in house HSA, with carry-over, $12000 to Pastor as a supplement for Coli’s school board policy charge, and $2400 for a Pastor selected mission. This arrangement with Pastor and Coli saves Grace over $3000 if we provided a Concordia Health Plan policy. We hope you are in agreement with the decision to hold to the 2020 Budget figures at this time. Please contact us if you disagree. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact Kevin or myself. If you wish a breakdown of Pastor’s compensation package please call us.
God has provided for Grace this year in spite of the pandemic. Together we have accomplished so much. With your generosity you have shown Christ’s love and caring not only for the needs of Grace Lutheran, but also have enabled Grace to reach out and provide for those in need. With your continued support, for which we are always grateful, we will continue to serve others and share the love of Christ. May your New Year be filled with God’s blessings. Continue to keep faith. We will get through these difficult times together, as we have done in the past. Stay safe. Have a Merry Christmas!