We are currently living in unprecedented times. Victoria has survived the devastation of bushfires at the beginning of the year only to be hit with the wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. As we review the past months, however, we can still see God’s leading within our Conference.
Many of our members responded to the need of those caught in the bushfire ravaged areas around our state, donating to Conference offerings and bushfire appeals. The funds collected have been distributed to some of our members in the hardest hit areas, helping to provide a little relief for some of the necessities so desperately needed by those folks. This was in addition to the tremendous work and financial support provided by ADRA to those bushfire victims.
Our churches in Victoria have now been closed for approximately 15 weeks and that has recently been extended, and our church leaders have had to find new ways to engage with their members and community. We are grateful for the technology available in this digital age to connect and share with our membership and community. Of course, a significant aspect to worship is the giving of tithes and offerings and many of our members have turned to the eGiving website or app to facilitate their continued financial support.
Tithe income to the Conference saw a significant decline in March however tithe for April and May have generally met our monthly budgets, while tithe for June fell short of our monthly budget. We recognise however for June there are almost 50% of our churches that had not submitted their tithe and offering reports in time. We have noted that support to local church budgets and local church initiatives has decreased dramatically, making it difficult for some of our churches to meet their loan or rent commitments. We are so grateful for the faithfulness of our members in returning their tithes and encourage that same faithfulness in continued financial support for local church budgets as well.
I would like to take this opportunity to share with you the results of our 2019 financials for both our church and school company.
The faithfulness of our membership enabled us to meet our tithe budget with Tithe income being just over $16 Million for the year. This has allowed the Conference to fund our pastoral staffing, a major evangelistic Harvest Victoria event, provide funding to resource our departments and administration, and provide financial support to our education system. The Victorian Conference ended 2019 with an operating surplus of $87,271.
Our school company has continued to grow in enrolments, which has bought with it challenges and the need to provide additional staff and teaching and learning spaces in some of our schools. Both federal and state funding make up a significant source of our education budget. Due to a budget shortfall in government funding for students with special needs our school company closed the year with a deficit operating result of $309,190. Effort has been put in to ensure our 2020 budget will provide an operating surplus for the year.
Our Aged Care company has just concluded its 2019/2020 financial year and it is pleasing to note that after a tremendous amount of work and careful management the aged care company has closed with a surplus of approx. $620,000 for the year. This has come about by careful management of occupancy and resident admissions with government ACFI funding significantly increasing due to the hire care needs of residents admitted to our facilities.
Our Pavilions apartment retirement facility is progressing well with completion of stage 1 expected to be before Christmas this year. This is a project that presents many challenges in terms of unit sales and construction costs. Our project management team have worked with us through all these challenges to ensure a high-quality retirement living complex our church can be proud of. We still have around eleven units in Stage One to be sold and we continue to ask for your prayers regarding this project.
God has blessed His church in Victoria during last year and particularly this year with the impact of bushfires and COVID-19.
We hang on to the promise that God will supply every need. Philippians 4:19
Graeme Moffitt, Conference CFO