Financial Update

- Matthew 6:21

FINANCIAL CONNECTION: It is the goal of the OroNaz Finance Team to keep this church family updated on our financial blessing and challenges. Through this expanded Financial Connection we will share biblical teachings that direct the decisions made by the CLT and we hope you can find application to your life as well.  

We’ll be discussing the Bible’s perspective on debt and the role debt is currently playing at OroNaz.

The Bible has several references to debt and how individuals should relate to debt. Debt be can defined as owing anything to anyone. Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 says, “When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it.” The Bible tells us to repay our debts and those that we make vows to. This is reinforced in the New Testament in Romans 13:8, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.” In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “ ‘Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.’ ” (Matthew 5:42). Debt is something that often plays a role in our financial lives; however we need to know that debt creates a different relationship between the borrower and the lender.

The verse we are going to focus on is Proverbs 22:7b: “The borrower is slave to the lender.” Another translation says “The borrower is servant to the lender.” This proverb tells us how individuals need to be cautious when borrowing because it may change the relationship with the people we borrow from or lend to. There are different components or terms the borrower must submit themselves to when entering into a loan. OroNaz currently has two outstanding debts that we felt it good to inform our congregation of the terms of those agreements.      

    In 2016, OroNaz agreed to a loan of $283,351 as a solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for several purposes. This PPA locked electrical rates for a 20 year term agreement at $0.12/kWh. The solar panels are owned and maintained by the solar company, and as a part of the installation process OroNaz had a new roof installed prior to the solar panels being installed. OroNaz makes biannual payments to the solar company, which pays down the debt and covers the cost of electricity. This PPA has been a net benefit for our church because OroNaz has saved money on PG&E bills. However, we will need to prepare for change when the term of our agreement comes to an end.

In 2018, OroNaz took out a $474,719 construction loan for the purpose of updating, refurbishing and relocating multiple components of our current campus. With our monthly payment of $2,590, combined with several large principal payments, OroNaz has reduced the principal owed to $245,353; that’s $229,366 paid off in the past 5 years! The Finance Team and CLT want to clear this debt from our budget and begin to save for future improvements to our campus.                                            __________________________________________________

April is the 2nd month of the annual budget year that runs March 2023 to February 2024. Thank you for your continued financial commitment; it is a testament to what God is doing in us and through us.

Our Pastor, CLT, Treasurer (Joey McCoy) and Finance Team welcome your questions and feedback. Please email the Finance Team at finance@oronaz.org to start a conversation.

FINANCIAL CONNECTION ARCHIVES: Click the month below you'd like to view.
APR 2022     MAY 2022     JUN 2022     JUL 2022     AUG 2022    SEP 2022    OCT 2022    NOV 2022     DEC 2022     Jan 2023   No FEB 2023 report 
MAR 2023   APR 2023

As part of the governments recovery plan to stimulate and shore up the economy during the early days of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Church Board approved us applying for the Payroll Protection Plan (PPP). Working with our Bank, the church was eligible to receive a $10,000 Grant and was approved for $98,000 in payroll protection, which was a loan with a forgiveness provision. We have weathered this pandemic, keeping our staff employed during this time. The church has followed all of the Federal Government’s provisions for the forgiveness of the PPP, and after submitting it to the Bank, they determined that we would need to repay $10,000 plus a small amount of interest accrued after approval, they determined that the remainder, $98,000, was forgiven. Because we spent the money from the PPP for payroll and mortgage payments, we were able to hold back the money budgeted for these things in a restricted account as they were paid. At the end we had set aside out of our budget the full amount of $108,000. Below we have charted this for you. The amount of interest was $81.45, leaving us with $97,918.55.

With $97,918.55 funds available, the Finance Team discussed that we need to use some of the money to help others, not just for ourselves. The recommendation to the Church Leadership Team was to pay a 10% tithe off the money to help others, and then use the rest in a prioritized spending plan developed last year for extra funds above the budgeted amounts. More on the prioritized spending plan later.
 
The Church Leadership Team approved the Finance Teams recommendation. The  tithe on the forgiven amount was decided to be split in two gifts: the first 5% ($4895.93) was allocated to World Missions (NMI) to give to those in need on the mission field, the second 5% was for the same amount,  and was allocated to Local Missions in our area.
Our World Missions Council (NMI) split their money and gave it to two projects:

• $2,447.97:  Project 1 – NCM COVID - 19 Response:  “As the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues, Nazarene Compassionate Ministries is committed to acting in compassion as we respond together throughout the crisis, including the long-term needs that will go beyond immediate risks and dangers. Together, we can continue to be formed by Christ to respond in love, care, patience, devotion, and boldness.”  More details at: https://www.ncm.org/covid19 [ncm.org] and https://issuu.com/ncm.magazine/docs/covid-19_digital
• $2,447.96:  Project 2 – NCM The Shechem Children’s Home: “The Shechem Children’s Home is a short-term assessment center for children who are survivors of online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC). This is a form of human trafficking where images or videos of children performing sexual acts are sold over the internet. It is a growing problem globally and, in the Philippines, where Shechem is located.”  More details at: https://www.ncm.org/shechem

Our Local Missions designation for the other top 5% ($4895.92) was split into four gifts:

• $1223.98: Gift 1 – Caring for Women Pregnancy Resource Center: Caring For Women is a nonprofit pregnancy resource center. We have helped teens and women in Butte County with free services for over 25 years. The Pregnancy Resource Center offers a friendly, caring and confidential atmosphere. More details: https://caringforwomen.life/index.htm
• $1223.98: Gift 2 –The Axiom Youth Center: The Axiom is a Youth Center in Downtown Oroville Focused on building platforms for success for students to realize and utilize their untapped potential. More details: http://www.theaxiom.org/
• $1223.98: Gift 3 –The Greater Oroville Homeless Coalition: The Greater Oroville Homeless Coalition is housed in the Hope Center to assist in-crisis individuals and families keep their homes. They work to end homelessness one individual or family at a time, whether you are in trouble of losing your housing or if you are trying to find housing. More details: https://www.facebook.com/OrovilleHomelessCoalition/
• $1223.98: Gift 4 –The Oroville Rescue Mission: The Oroville Rescue Mission is a religious non-profit organization which serves the homeless and disadvantaged in the Oroville area and its surrounding communities. It is affiliated with the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions. More details: https://www.orovillerescuemission.org

Prioritized Spending Plan Distribution of Remainder: $88,126.30
Last year as part of our budget process the Finance Team and CLT set up what we are calling the prioritized spending plan where extra funds above the budgeted amount would be distributed as follows: 75% ($66,095.03) was allocated to debt repayment on our construction loan, 10% ($8,812.67) has been set aside for our Maintenance Team to use on the many needs of our campus and buildings, 5% ($4,406.33) has been set aside for Local Compassionate Ministries future needs, 5% ($4,406.33) has been allocated to our NMI team for future needs, and the last 5% ($4,406.33) has been set aside for the CLT to aid our church ministries and their needs.
We have been truly blessed! We will continue to steward God’s finances to the best of our ability. Any questions feel free to email finance@oronaz.org

Joey McCoy, Treasurer and the Finance Team