RMCNews – Denver, Colorado … “2021 was an amazing year for giving,” Darin Gottfried, vice president of finance, said during his presentation at the first RMC Executive Committee in 2022.
The committee, convening February 22, welcomed five new members who filled vacated seats. The new members included: David Sakul, First Indonesian Adventist Church member; Arnie Sybrant, Casper Adventist Church member; Andrew Carpenter, Mile High Academy principal; Vanessa Alarcon, Boulder Adventist Church member; and Kari Lange, H.M.S. Richards Elementary School teacher.
Mic Thurber, RMC president, began with the president’s report sharing that he was “impressed with the whole family feeling” in the RMC Indonesian congregations as they celebrated the life of Timothy Dien. He also informed the members that counseling has been made available for the Campion Academy family.
In the RMC secretary’s presentation, Doug Inglish, vice president of administration, discussed the upcoming spring town halls and the process for electing delegates by individual churches for the second quinquennial constituency meeting of The Rocky Mountain Conference. A proposal for a loan to repair the roof at the Sterling, Colorado church was approved.
In the financial section of the meeting, Gottfried shared that the “Rocky Mountain Conference ended the year with a total tithe of $19,670,897, an increase of 13.16% from 2020.”
He added, “The Rocky Mountain Conference Advance offerings had a positive year with $275,997 given in 2021 compared to $184,617 in 2020.” This additional giving will assist the six areas for which the advance offering is designated: evangelism, Campion and Mile High academies, the church and school building fund, summer camp programming, camp facilities, and La Vida Mission. Gottfried expressed gratitude for members also supporting their local church, in which giving was up by 14.22%.
A revised budget for 2022 was also presented and approved. The budget presented showed a deficit of approximately $275,000 but is balanced in the tithe function. This planned loss is due to previously allocated funds for projects and programs that will be spent down in 2022.
Because of the operating gain in 2021, the Conference’s working capital increased from 3.7 months in 2020 to 4.8 months in 2021. The North American Division is recommending six months of working capital.
While the Conference has not yet reached the goal of six months working capital, it was voted by the committee that the gain from 2021 be allocated as follows:
75% be placed into allocated reserves.
10% allocated for employee development.
5% allocated for Mile High Academy.
5% allocated for Campion Academy.
5% allocated for the Campion Development Program.
Gottfried ended his presentation by stating, “I am very grateful for the financial blessings we received last year and am praying that these funds can help spread the love of Jesus and grow His Kingdom.”
The committee also reviewed and approved the recommendations of the Bylaws Committee to forward to the Constituency Session.
— RMCNews; photo by Rajmund Dabrowski
