EL CAMINO BAPTIST CHURCH THE TRUMPET November 2010 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is Good and His Love endures forever. forever. 1 Chronicles 16:34 Annual Budget Meeting Striking A Chord El Camino Annual Church Profile 2 3 4 To help prepare us to enter the Advent Season we are having a Church-Wide Decorating Party in the Worship Center November 23rd 6 pm 9pm SAVEMART S.H.A.R.E.S. 5 Halloween Party Pictures 6 Financial Matters 7 Calendar 8 Ecbc offerings to date: $382
Page 2 ANNUAL BUDGET MEETING DECEMBER 5TH Our annual meeting to set next year s budget is scheduled for Sunday, December 5 th at 2:00p.m. This is an extremely important meeting because the budget voted on by the church governs financially the limits of what we can do for ministry in 2011. Your Finance & Personnel Committees have worked diligently and have really struggled with balancing desires and needs with the reality of our financial situation. While Staff have kept spending below budget during 2010, giving to the church has consistently declined throughout the year and has consistently fallen short of expenses, leaving us with close to $32,000.00 deficit as of October. Averaged weekly income from giving has been $7,049.00 during 2010; roughly $1,340.00 below what we needed for budget and also below what we needed to meet expenses. Next year s budget needs to be governed by this year s expenses in balance with this year s income. In dollars, that means the 2011 budget cannot exceed $365,484.00 - period. To be safe, the Finance Committee feels it needs to be kept at or below about $355,000.00. What this means is we have to reduce our budget for next year by close to $100,000.00 if we are going to survive financially. We re going to have to make cuts across the board, affecting cooperative program and missions support, operations (maintenance, repairs, custodial supplies, etc), administrative support, ministries and programs, and staffing. The issue of finances always stir strong feelings, and, unfortunately, stronger reactions. As we meet and work through tough issues and decisions, I want to encourage everyone to appreciate the Finance & Personnel Committees for their efforts and remember several biblical principles The church belongs to God, not us (Mt 16:18). We exist for one reason only, to honor and bring glory to God (Eph 3:21). will be a blessing to their world; He promises to multiply back to His people what they give to Him so that their trust will bring glory to Him. I personally believe the answer to our dilemma is two-fold. The first is to be fulfilling our mission sharing our faith, reaching people for Christ, bringing them into the church. The second is being faithful to God s chosen way of making disciples supporting the church. If you are not tithing (giving 10% of your income into the church), start. If you are so financially strapped that you can t start there, give proportionately. That means you start somewhere; stay consistent with that while you work to eliminate your debts, and proportionately increase your giving until you reach your full tithe or more. May God blessing you, Pastor Bill Our mission is to reach people for Christ, making them disciples (Mt 28:19-20). We are obligated to use the resources we have wisely, not wastefully (Mt 25:14-30). Above all, God wants unity and love to prevail in His church (Jn 17:20-21, Eph 4:3). One last thought: we are in tough economic times, and I know that most of us are struggling and fearful, but God promises to bless His people so they There is only one guaranteed principle of success & prosperity: an unwavering devotion to living by the Word of God.
Page 3 Striking a Chord By David Burckhardt the message of Christmas is drawing near to us on these first days of November we have probably had enough of Halloween decorations and ads, election ads, etc. The message of Christmas is already out there I saw it, I heard it in Macy s last week! Yet, there is a message that we want you to hear all year round here at El Camino Baptist. It s the message that we are a church of small groups! You re probably saying, awww, he tricked me. Well, here s another part of the small group message: We can use small groups to evangelize and draw new people in to ECBC. And, we can share the gospel freely with those who might not hear it otherwise especially when they are captive in your home! And, you don t need to put up any small group decorations, or provide any small group cookies, or play any small group music. The message is simply to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. And you don t have to fight the crowds at Macy s to get the message out! Another message to get out this Christmas is What a Story!, our theme for this 2010 season. Immerse yourself in the advent stories, the music, the fellowships, the candlelight service on Christmas eve. May He and His story be the center of our celebration./djb Speaking of Christmas If anyone is interested in contributing toward Christmas presents for Mark and Laura Bohanan, our Heart of Ukraine missionaries, and/or their clients, please contact anyone on the Missions Committee. Committee members are: Bill and Betty Raiford, Theresa Wright, Kim Stinson, Harrol Estevez and Norma Wood. Mark & Laura have a "wish list" for each of their clients on the Ukraine Farm. Their gentlemen clients are Sasha & Igor and lady clients, Larissa & Nina. You can either provide an item on the list or donate toward a larger item and/or shipping. We would like to get the package mailed off by mid-november. A Chili feed fundraiser is being planned for Sunday, Nov. 21st. Chili and sourdough or cornbread. The cost is a mere $4 per person or $10 per family. Please contact Kim Stinson or Norma Wood if you can assist by bringing either of the breads. Chili has been donated. Thank you.
Page 4 2009-2010 El Camino Baptist Annual Church Profile Each year the California Baptist Convention asks each church to share vital information that helps the convention to be better prepared and able to serve your church and other 2,100 congregations affiliated with California Southern Baptist Convention. Remember: We all are working together to fulfill the Great Commission by sharing Christ with every person in our state and throughout the world. Fermin A. Whttaker, executive director California Southern Baptist Convention 2009 2010 Category 237 273 Total Membership both resident and non-resident 2 14 Number of people baptized in the past 12 months 191 170 Average weekly Worship Attendance 355 351 Total Bible Study & Small Groups enrollment 0 140 Vacation Bible School enrollment 2010 279 121 Number of people participating in Discipleship Courses over the last 12 months 120 117 43,883 54,469.65 Number of people participating in Music Ministry events over the last 12 months Total amount of designated & undesignated Mission Giving; all CSBC programs and all other mission support
Page 5 What is the SAVEMART S.H.A.R.E.S. PROGRAM? The El Camino Baptist Church Food Closet Ministry has elected to participate in the Savemart S.H.A.R.E.S. program to help supplement the church the cost to operate our food closet. Participation in the S.H.A.R.E.S. program and the S.H.A.R.E.S. card is FREE S.H.A.R.E.S. is open to ALL groups and organizations*, not just schools and non-profit organizations. Save Mart Supermarkets and S-Mart foods will be donating up to 2 Million dollars annually. Each swipe of the S.H.A.R.E.S. card earns up to 3% of qualified purchases for the organization you support. Simply register your school, church, group or organization in the program and encourage everyone to use their S.H.A.R.E.S. card every time they shop. The registered organization will receive a quarterly check reflecting the allocated amount earned. How Can You Get Involved? Obtain a Savemart Shares card from one of our Food Closet representatives and remember to use the card each time you make a purchase at Savemart. If you have any questions you may contact Otis Tritchler at the Food Closet. Our Food Closet is open each Friday from 12:30 3:30 pm and serves zip codes 95821, 95825, and 95815.
Page 6 Here are some pictures from our Church-wide Halloween Party
Receipts for October $37,280.72 How Do We Measure Up? Page 7 5th 4th 3rd 2nd 1st $7,925.60 $5,657.30 $4,261.00 $7,742.62 $11,696.20 In our strategy to Fill the Month we hope to educate our members on How we are doing and what specific needs we have. Besides our tithes exceeding our monthly budget needs this month, we received an unexpected blessing from a member of the church who donated two hard drives to upgrade our Office Manager s & Pastor s computers from an existing 30g hard drive to 300g hard drive Thank you. We had a hardship this month when our Network Server Computer hard drive failed and it became necessary for the church to spend money for the repairs. We were able to replace the 80g hard drive with a 500g hard drive which will serve our needs for some years to come. We have additional office computers that are in need of upgrading and we are working on getting these issues resolved. Help Us FILL the Month Weekly Budget Needs: $8,368.38 Monthly Budget Needs $36,262.99 Thank you Church family for your faithful tithes, giving Honor and Glory to God. Tithing Testimony by Gail Swanson My husband and I heard a man in our Bible Study class tell of the blessings he found in tithing. We listened and then we decided to start tithing as a result. That man was right. We were blessed beyond anything we imagined and we continue to be. It seemed to make the connection with God that we needed. That man mentioned the scripture, Malachi 3:10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test me now in this, says the Lord of Hosts, If I will not open to you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. I am not saying those blessings were monetary, but the Lord blessed us mightily and continues to do so. I will tell you the name of the man, Wayne Stoops, over his objections, because Christians need to know that we can serve other Christians.
B a b y S h o wer Saturday November 6th 2 4 pm In the Senior Center Congratulations to Mark & April Schrokosch who have adopted two little ones. Joseph Jose age 2 &Marina 4 months. Help us welcome these sweet children to the Schrokosch family as well as ours. The Mark & April are registered at Target. VBS 2011 Jump Start If you have any interest at all in joining the El Camino VBS team for 2011, you won t want to miss this clinic on Nov 6th put on by the Sacramento Southern Baptist Association. Please contact Betty Raiford for details 217-0467 Our Food Closet Ministry is sponsoring a Can Food Drive for our Community Food Closet. The holidays are just around the corner and there are many families in need of food. Our Food Closet currently serves as many as 80 families per week. Please put your donations in the designated barrel located in our lobby thank you. El Camino Baptist Church Sundays Mondays Tuesdays Wednesdays Thursdays Nov 11 Nov 12-13 Nov 28 2805 El Camino Ave Sacramento CA 95821 Bible Fellowship Groups 9:00 am Bible Study for All ages-church Campus 4:44 pm The Prophecy Code Suite B 4:44 pm Victoriously Frazzled Wright Home 5:00 pm Bible Fellowship Group Lathrop Home On Break Until January 6:30 pm Proverbs Raiford Home 6:30 pm To Live is Christ Elson Home 6:30 pm Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed Holly Hooper Home 6:30 pm Man in the Mirror Suite B 7:00 pm Bible Fellowship Group Diridoni Home On Break Until January 7:00 pm Corinthians Jenkins Home November Activities Finance Team Meeting 7:00 pm conference room Women of Faith Arco Arena Children s Department Skating party starting with lunch in the Fellowship Hall Nov 21 Chili Dinner Fundraiser for Missions Ministry 12:30 pm Remember to continue to pray for Pastor Bill and his speedy recovery from surgery. Church-wide Christmas Decorating Party Nov 23 6 pm Worship Center For More Information Visit our website at www.elcaminobaptist.org