In fact there is no magic to making end meet in Maine! Whether it is the balancing of my household expenses and income or the attempt to balance our church’s budget, surviving the winter will require creative intention and attention. Though the humidity of summer is still upon us, many of us are already anticipating the costs that winter will bring. While the particulars of our congregations may encourage us to establish unique identities, many of the challenges we share are opportunities for us to learn from each other to share ideas, positive experiences, and community building solutions. A group of Annual Meeting delegates met in Farmington in a workshop in this spirit.

To begin the magic of making ends meet, there are both cost-cutting ideas and income-increasing ideas. There are some short-term thoughts and some long-term projects to investigate. Below is annotated list generation from our workshop, in no particular order:

Income Increasing Ideas:
-Parable of the Talents (Matt 25: 14-30)—actually engage people in the exercise of this lesson!
-Matching Gifts (promote them!)
-inviting and connecting with visitors (especially Christmas & Easter people)
-encourage members to have a long-term plan for incrementally increasing their church-giving
-educate people about Gift Annuities (www.acga-web.org)
-No-Bake Bake Sales
-Organize a fundraiser when kids can visit and check-out a local fire truck, or police car. See if these professionals will offer a “safety check” of vehicles/bikes while families are there.
-Church Suppers (of all kinds—not just beans!)

-request specific needs/amounts for people to pick-up costs—think creatively!
-put envelopes of “Thanks Giving” in pews and teach people to offer occasional extraordinary offerings in these envelopes
-Electronic and Online Giving (help give your members a way to contribute even on the weeks they are not in worship.) Note: The Stewardship Network is working on providing concrete resources about these processes.

Expense Reduction Ideas
-agree not to meet in sanctuaries during winter (in sanctuary only on Christmas?)
-maybe worship is held in a home, or a shared sanctuary
Note: It is important that visitors and newcomers always know where and how to find the community, should they want to join you in worship!
-cooperative purchases (among families, other churches/other non-profits) for supplies, services, etc
-collaborative oil buying (again with other churches/non-profits)
-zone heating
-increase your building’s insulation/energy efficiency— have an energy audit completed, it will give you specific ways to improve the efficient of your building.
-drop the temperature in heated space down a few degrees— asking people to dress appropriately!

I hope that some of these thoughts inspire you and your communities, either to try them or imagine your own.
Stay warm! Stay efficient! Stay Creative!