What is a Budget, Anyway?

Mark 10:46-52

Pentecost 23, October 27, 2024

Holy Trinity Cathedral

“What is a Budget, Anyway?”

Here is good news: God meets us in our needs, if we know what to ask for.  The story of the blind beggar being healed by Jesus is a testimony to this truth.  Jesus asks him, “what do you want me to do for you?”  Bartimaeus responds, “let me see again”.  His sight is restored physically and spiritually to become a disciple.  What are we asking Jesus to do for us?  And what are we willing to do as a result of trusting in God’s plan?  In our exploration of stewardship over the next few weeks, we consider God’s mission and how we invest the time, talents, and treasure we have been given.  Warning: we begin with the idea of a budget.

Originally bulga is from the Latin word for a leather bag or knapsack and its contents.  It was what a traveller or soldier carried forward with them on a journey.  You had what you needed for a set amount of time.  Then they found it was easier to carry money and buy the things needed, so the word budget came to be an estimate of income and expenditures for a period and being “on a budget” meant the identified amount that you had to spend.

Now before you glaze over about any actual numbers, let’s talk about what a budget is for, anyway.  Its purpose is to keep track of how we are meeting set goals.  Money is, after all, a placeholder for the things we value.  There is meaning behind the numbers.  It’s not just about finances.  You can also budget time, as in how long it will take to do something.  Or you can budget talent when calculating the different skills needed to complete a project. But most of the time, when a household or an organization is talking about what they need, it comes down to money on a spreadsheet.  The money coming in is called- surprise- income.  The money being spent is called expenditures.  So far, so good?  Where the money is coming from and where the money is going has everything to do with what we think is important. 

As people of faith, we affirm that everything we hold comes from God.  But our church community does not automatically receive a heavenly credit card to draw on whenever we want to do something.  What we have to work with comes from several sources.  We rely on the offerings of parishioners, visitors, and friends of the cathedral for the majority of our income.  These are considered charitable donations.  Holy Trinity Cathedral also raises some income from groups who use the facilities for meeting or event space.  From funds that are invested in the name of the parish, we are able to draw down the interest earned.  In certain cases, the principal amount of a legacy or heritage gift may be used, although this diminishes our ability in future.  And lastly, there may be grants or loans approved for projects.  So income comes from donations, rentals, investment interest, and possibly grants or loans.  Holy Trinity Cathedral does NOT get money for operations from the Diocese of New Westminster, nor the Canadian Church or the Church of England.  We are not supported by any level of government.  And we do not have ongoing cash flow from any foundation or other organization, or from a big fat beneficiary.  To do the work of the gospel, our faith community carries forward what we are given by budgeting a reasonable expectation of income. 

The other part of a budget is expenses.  This is our expression of what we have discerned are priorities for ministry.  It is our understanding of what God wants us to do.  When you see a budget on a page, the items are often broken down line by line as to how the expenses are paid out.  For example, in your household budget you may consider that you need to spend money on rent, on food, on childcare, on transportation, on medical costs, on outstanding loans, and on your commitment to helping others like through the Church.  But the categories don’t always reflect the fullness of the parts.  Healthy food can impact on medical costs.  How you get to and from work makes a difference in organizing childcare.  To understand how your budget is going to work for you, you have to be clear about what is going to be a priority, and how that affects the other areas of your life.  It’s the same when we have a look at how our community estimates expenditures.  Some things that seem obvious, like maintenance costs for the facilities, have a big impact on how we are able to both generate rental income and use the place for ministry.  Other lines, like salary expenses for staff, are what make possible the range of programs and pastoral care and outreach that goes on throughout the week.  And we are not a stand-alone organization as a parish.  We belong to the Anglican Communion- Christians supporting God’s mission throughout the world.  So a portion of our budget goes both to outreach beyond our ability as a single parish, and helps pay for the resources that we have access to as part of the Diocese and further.  We are paying forward into a network that makes possible what God has in store.

Every year, the parish council prayerfully considers both income and expenditures.  A proposed budget is drawn up and presented to all parishioners at the Annual Vestry Meeting in February.  Your vote is a commitment to help make it a reality.  Once approved, the budget becomes a template to help track expected income and expenses against what actually flows through this parish’s accounts and funds.  It may be that unexpected circumstances mean unexpected income or expenses. We then have to adjust the budget.  That means cutting something or finding a means of raising additional revenue.  For the last few years, Holy Trinity Cathedral has been operating at a deficit: spending more than it has been receiving in income.  That has partly been because of plans for redevelopment taking longer than expected. Our goal is to get to a balanced budget, because we cannot draw down money we do not have, and we have to work with what God has given us.  

Through a budget, we express collectively what we believe God is wanting us to do.  But it is through our individual support that God has the means to act.  When God asks, “What do you want me to do for you?”, how will you answer?  For me, I want this community of Holy Trinity Cathedral to thrive!   I want the cathedral to be a place to gather and a place to do ministry.  A place of belonging and becoming.  I want us to be disciples like Bartimaeus that can be empowered by God to see clearly and follow.  From a blind beggar who didn’t know where his next meal was coming from, he became a follower we remember by name. And his name, which shifts in Scripture from “son of uncleanliness” to “son of honour” is an example of what God can do for each of us who trusts in the good news.  I do believe that God meets us in our needs, and calls us to respond with trust and gratitude.  In God’s plan, there is always enough.  Amen.