We continue to embrace our Bishop’s 2025 Vision by sharing the Gospel of Christ through helping those in need throughout the Metropolitan NY area. During this year, the Bishop proposed and the Synod Council approved tithing initiatives. Through these initiatives, the synod has provided assistance to those in need and support to organizations who advocate for them. Through the Bishop’s vision, we are serving Christ in our communities.
By working closely with the Synod Committees, such as the Audit Committee, the Investment Committee, and the Synod Council, we serve the primacies of our Mission: Evangelism, Leadership, Congregations, Advocacy, and our Bishop’s vision.
Given the ongoing changes in our environment today, the Bishop and staff are continuously reviewing and evaluating the methodologies that are in place, while considering our purpose, priority and principle. These efforts are helping our synod to become stronger and move boldly into the future, while preserving the Lutheran tradition and responding to specific needs of our leadership, congregations, and to those who are in need.
I am currently in my fifth year on synod staff and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve this synod as Assistant to the Bishop for Finance, to be a team member of the synod’s Executive Staff, and to work with both the Treasurer and the Synod Council. Their care and dedication to this synod is extraordinary.
We continue to focus on improving systems and creating efficiencies in Finance and Administration. An example of this is our having prepared new reporting formats to increase transparency and comprehensibility. In addition, the document, ‘Minimum Expectations for Clergy Compensation,’ which can be found on our website, has seen a few enhancements to provide greater clarity. I enjoy assisting clergy and lay leaders with this document, as well as with other impromptu accounting, tax, and finance inquiries.
This year, we worked to improve our accounting database and are currently in the first phase of this project. We will complete this phase upon the end of our financial audit. This will give us the ability to provide reports that are consistent from year to year. In phase two, we will design new reports that will yield greater transparency and provide comparative reporting with ease.
This is the fifth year I have been working with our outside audit firm, Tait, Weller & Baker. Our audits continue to be carried out successfully. We have received a clean or “unqualified opinion” from the audit firm each year and have not received any Management Letter Comments.
I work closely with the COO and Treasurer in the development of the annual budget and provide ad hoc financial reporting to them as requested. As the economic landscape continues to change and as church membership continues to decline, the financial and legal obligations of the synod have increased. This makes budgeting and the allocation of resources challenging as our priority is to be true to our mission while fulfilling these additional obligations.
The financial results for the fiscal year ending January 31, 2025, noted below may have some minor changes as compared with the Audited Financial Statements, as the audit has not yet been completed.
We are grateful to our congregations for the mission support that has been given to our synod during this past year. We received $792K in mission support during the 2025 fiscal year. Fifty percent, or $396K of the mission support received from our congregations, was sent to churchwide, our synod’s support of the ELCA; this leaves the remaining $396K with MNYS for spending on mission. Mission support received during the 2025 fiscal year covered approximately 10% of our operating budget. The remaining amount needed to cover missional, operating and property expenditures was withdrawn from the Legacy Fund.
Our budget for the fiscal year ending 2025 was set at $5.1 million, which represents a $300K reduction from the previous year’s budget of $5.4 million. Our proposed budget for the fiscal year ending 2026 is $6.3 million. This year we are anticipating increased costs related to properties and costs associated with the election and installation of the next bishop.
I am thankful to God for this wonderful opportunity. It is a blessing to be working with dedicated people who value our church's mission and to have the opportunity to share my gifts and live my vocation for Christ each day.