When we give $1.00 to The University Church, it is like throwing a pebble into a pond. The ripple extends the effect of the pebble far across the pond.
The University Church has an operating budget of approximately $250,000. We are currently experiencing a deficit in funding. Our operating budget is designed to keep the building open and welcoming, facilitate community outreach programs, and pay the staff who guide and support the life of the church, thus enabling God’s word to be preached on Sundays and lived out through the week.
With a fully funded operating budget, the church is empowered to facilitate a range of community outreach programs. Each of these outreach programs has received substantial funding from sources outside of the church, but depend, in varying degrees, on leadership and support from the church to operate.
These programs include:
- Reynolds Elementary School Afterschool and Summer Programs
- Reynolds Elementary School Mentoring Program
- Rogers High School Afterschool/Mentoring Program
- Community Garden Program
- Community Health Worker Program
- Third Thursday Outreach Program
- Nation and international mission funded through apportionments
Our community outreach programs will receive approximately $600,000 in grants and other external support in 2018. 100% of this will go to run these programs, pay for program staff, and support the work of many unpaid volunteers and interns. The church operating budget does not receive any of the $600,000 that supports these programs.
When was the last time you spent $1.00 and received an additional $2.40 in value? This is how it works when we support The University Church’s operating budget. Each $1.00 given to the operating budget leverages an additional $2.40 in grants and other external support which, in turn, keeps our outreach programs up and running, and allows God’s word to be lived out in the community. With enough pebbles thrown into the pond, we can really make some waves.
Please be generous. Donate online.
By financially supporting the operating budget of The University Church, we fulfill our mission in many ways.
- We keep the church building open all week long as a gathering place in our community.
Who might you see at the church during the week? Little children from our neighborhood school programs, the participants in our Third Thursday Outreach Program, our AmeriCorps VISTA members, Community Garden volunteers with special needs, people gathering for Bible Study, and so on. The list is very long. The University Church building and grounds provide a gathering place for growth, compassion, and building a loving community.
- We facilitate outreach programs.
Although each of our major outreach programs receives funding from grants, sponsors, and partnerships, all of these programs rely, in one way or another, on the leadership and support provided through the church. Our small church budget provides the axle that connects the many spokes of a much larger wheel.
- We support the communal life of the church family, enabling God’s word to be preached on Sundays and lived out through the week.
Providing for the staff members who keep the restrooms clean and welcoming through to our pastor who encourages our walk with Christ, the church operating budget enables us to grow together as a church family. Our church operating budget funds our children’s ministry, our music program, and pays the bills for utilities and all of the other costs associated with being in community together.