TRINITY CHURCH
ANNUAL REPORT - 2024
FINANCE
Financials and Stewardship
The finances at Trinity Church are divided between the Investment Team, the Stewardship Team, and the Budget Team. All three are committed to bringing recommendations to the vestry and being good stewards of the money entrusted to Trinity Church.
Investment Committee
Chad Hardy
Investment Committee
Chair
The Investment Committee was established twelve years ago to supervise, monitor, and evaluate the investment assets of Trinity Church and to recommend an annual distribution from these assets to the church budget. We make recommendations to the Vestry regarding investment matters.
We meet four times per year to review investment performance, meet with our investment managers, Parsec and the Community Foundation of WNC, and formulate recommendations for the Vestry to review and consider.
This year, our committee membership consisted of Rev. Dr. Scott White, Senior Warden Nancy Dexter, Junior Warden Ralph Simpson, Treasurer Jennifer Weidemann, Finance Director Jan Hildebrand, Finance Assistant Robyn McNeal, Fred Groce, Jeff Howden, Vince Childress, and Jim Gunn. I am grateful for the dedicated service of this talented group of Trinitarians. If you would like to be part of our committee, please contact Jan Hildebrand or myself.
As of September 30, 2024, Trinity’s assets included two Money Market deposit accounts, at First Citizens Bank and Self Help Credit Union with combined balances of $29,594, an operating checking account and an investment portfolio managed by Modera Wealth Management that is comprised of restricted, unrestricted, and Legacy assets of Trinity Church with a balance of $1.3 million.
Additionally, Trinity is blessed to be the income beneficiary of three endowed accounts at the Community Foundation of WNC with combined balances of $1.6 million.
Trinity also receives income from a portfolio that is managed by Wells Fargo as Trustee. This account was established in the 1960s by a gift from a generous parishioner.
Trinity has received several very generous unrestricted bequests this year and over the years. One such gift is a living endowment. This endowment has been invested with Vanguard Funds, adding an additional investment manager to our portfolio.
Other bequests received have allowed us to formally establish an independent Legacy gift portfolio at Modera Wealth Management.
Our focus continues to be on being good stewards of the assets of the parish. This year, we recommended to the Vestry the reduction of our Modera and Vanguard portfolios by 1.1MM to purchase the adjacent Church Street property that will allow our parish flexibility to address future growth needs.
Our stewardship efforts should inspire the confidence of our parish that we are seeking to get the best possible returns on our funds, by using active and passive investment strategies.
It has been a great blessing to have served yet another year as Chair, and to have served on this committee since its’ inception.
Respectfully Submitted,
Chad Hardy
Committee Chair
Stewardship Team
Stewardship is a joyful act for the sake of God's world, both for the individual and the community. Christian stewardship is the grateful and responsible use of God's gifts in light of God's purpose, as revealed in Jesus Christ. Christian stewards, empowered by the Holy Spirit, commit themselves to conscious, purposeful decisions.
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We could not do this important work each year without the help of our Stewardship Team—Scott, Amy, Mike, Ken, Robyn, Nanette, our two Vestry liaisons, Craig Weeks and Tina McGuire, and the many members who have given their time to serve as Stewardship Circle Captains.
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Our Stewardship process again included a two-step approach. We began the process with a “pre-campaign,” inviting the congregation to join a Leadership group by making a pledge early, two weeks before the start of the campaign. The pre-campaign happened entirely online.
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The second stage is the full campaign, which was supposed to have started on October 1. Due to Hurricane Helene, it actually began on October 23. We are a whole month behind our intended schedule. The full campaign is conducted through US mail. This part of the campaign will be open until November 20. At that time, we will initiate a follow-up process to reach out to those who have yet to reply.
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The campaign's results as of November 16 are in the sidebox. We still need to hear back from all our members, and we hope to hear back soon from about 80 faithful givers who have contributed to Trinity consistently through the years, and others. Understandably, this campaign is taking longer due to the disruption of life we have all experienced.
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We are grateful to the Stewardship team and all Trinity members for their generosity in ensuring Trinity's mission and ministry.
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Respectfully submitted,
Jan Hildebrand & Jo Rice
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. Ephesians 3:18-19
Grounded and Growing 2025
as of November 16, 2024
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307 pledges have been received for a total of $970,814
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of the 307 pledges received:
188 increased for an increased amount of $63,589
21 decreased for a decrease amount of $19,511
76 stayed at the same amount as in 2024
23 are first-time pledges totaling $72,622
8 dropped out due to death and relocation from AVL for $18,883
The average pledge at this point is $3162
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At the close of our 2024 campaign, we received 370 pledges for a total of $1,021,000
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For this year, we hope to still receive an additional 80 pledges from
members who pledged in 2024, and others who have not yet made a pledge.
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Where were we as of November 15 Last year
We had received 339 pledges for a total of $1,000.030 and the average pledge was $2950
Treasurer's Report​
Jennifer Weidemann
Treasure
​The Finance Committee team has met four times during the year to review the Financial Reports of Trinity. The committee accessed the cash position of the church with a focus begun last year, on the increased investment of temporarily idle funds. This year there have been several large demands on cash of the church, including the planned renovations of several areas, the planned purchase of a van, and the purchase of the property at 75 Church Street. The investments of the church have continued to do well this year, showing strong recovery even after the expenditures.​​
This year the church has supported the budget allowing for growth to support the increase in the members and activities of the church. Prior to the arrival of hurricane Helene, the revenues and expenditures for the year to date were right on budget and we were expecting to have another strong, well managed year. Post Helene, the pledged income has stayed on track, and for that we are grateful.
As we all know, life changed overnight when the storm hit. The church did not sustain any major damages but experienced the loss of the old van, the loss of trees that had to be removed, and other expenses coping with the extra costs of bottled water, communication, and the loss of parking revenues, etc. The bigger variance from the planned budget will occur in the final quarter of the year. We have been very fortunate to receive to date over $75,000 in donations for hurricane relief from all over the country. Some of that has been spent to assist with urgent local needs, such as housing, food and insurance deductibles. More information will be available in the next couple of months as we see what needs are identified during this recovery period.
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The committee will soon begin work on the draft 2025 budget for approval by the Vestry. The church is again in a good financial position for the current year with a $9,000 positive variance to budget as of September 30, 2024 and a conservative budget will be prepared as we head into a somewhat uncertain future.
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The committee is composed of parishioners and staff members: Treasurer, Jennifer Weidemann, Nancy Dexter, Ralph Simpson, Steven Bennett, Don Weidemann, Jan Hildebrand, Robyn McNeal, and Scott White.
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Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Weidemann
Treasurer
