annual report 2018 final - knox.org · 6 knox presbyterian church 2018 annual report the growth...

ANNUAL REPORT 2018

Knox Presbyterian Church 2018 Annual Report 2


Dear Friends,

Reading over the entries written for this year’s Annual Report, I was reminded of these words of the Prophet Jeremiah: “Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce…But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you…for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” (Jeremiah 29:5,7)

Originally, God spoke this message to the Israelites as they returned home to Jerusa-lem. They were words of hope for the future following a long time of struggle. Here at Knox, the context is different. We have been, and we continue to be, a blessed com-munity, with much for which to be thankful. The common thread is that God gives us the gifts we need and hope for the future, and we are called to make strong commit-ments to God, one another, and the community around us. I am grateful that here at Knox we are living that call.

It has been a year of building here at Knox. Early in the year we put the finishing touches on our building renovations, and we continue to maintain and improve physical assets around the building. Of course, the bricks and mortar are here only for the build-ing up of the body of Christ, and that happens here through the strong pastoral care present among our membership and the education we offer to children and adults alike.

We keep gaining support for the present day. Not only are the membership and finan-cial picture healthy, but our members keep offering themselves in mission and music, and in teaching and caring for one another.

In the future, God will continue to call us, and we must be ready to answer. With so many gifts to share, your Session is actively asking what God will call us to do in the days ahead. Just as we have always done, we keep looking outward to the city where God has sent us, knowing that we will continue to find our welfare by seeking to help those in greatest need.

Read on. There is good news in this report. I am grateful to God and to all of you.

In Christ,

Adam


Building & Grounds had an eventful 2018, particularly in terms of staffing and major projects, starting with the hiring of Pete Tuff as Director of Operations. Pete’s extensive career in building management, operations and administration in North America, Central America and the Caribbean combined with an active volunteer role at Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church helped him adapt quickly to his new post at Knox, and he has proved to be an invaluable addition to our church.

Perhaps the most visible transformation under the Building & Grounds umbrella this year was the completion of the Michigan Avenue upper ramp and walkway. Thanks to a generous donation by a Knox member and the efforts of the planning committee and Pete, the project broke ground in June and was completed by fall. Further enhancing the look was the power-washing of the Michigan Avenue side of the building this summer. The lower courtyard is to be completed in 2019.

Not only did the Michigan Avenue side of the building get a facelift, but thanks to another generous donation to the Knox Preschool the for-

mer chain-link playground fence was replaced by a new wood-en fence in August.

Lighting was improved in the Chapel late in the year. The addi-tion of large LED spots in the existing fixtures (which are dec-ades old) as well as the installation of spotlights in the rafters have added significant light to the space.

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�� A grand opening was held in February 2018 for the much-anticipated new Social Hall, the last in a series of comprehensive renovations made possible by the 2016-17 Campaign for Tomorrow. The Social Hall had seen little use in previous years, but is now a modern, well-equipped gathering space that hosts Knox meetings and events throughout the week. Funds also were released by Session to con-tinue our support of operations at Third Pres-byterian Church and the Jerusalem Interna-tional YMCA Peace Preschool. Construction was completed of a school in Kigarama, Uganda.

Because of the generosity of Knox members, and in keeping with the wishes of the Mission & Social Concerns Committee, the Campaign for Tomorrow had sufficient funds to meet its stretch goals of providing additional assistance to the Jerusalem International YMCA Peace Preschool, and to build a second school in rural Uganda. These funds were released by The Session in 2018, and the school now is under construction and is slat-ed to open at the start of the 2019 school year.


�� The Growth & Outreach (GO) Committee had an excellent year regarding fellowship op-portunities for Knox members, engagement with the larger community, and the welcom-ing of new members.

The committee was involved in creating outward-facing events that engaged both Knox membership and the community. These included Jazz on Michigan, the annual blood drive, and feeding vol-unteers as part of Mission Pos-sible. Knox Rocks the Block completed its third year and again was led by singer/songwriter Zac Morgan.

Other GO events included the annual picnic that attracted

150 people from both Knox Church and Third Presbyterian; Cof-fee and Crullers (part of the Knox Annual Meeting); and two do-cent-led tours of the Cincinnati Art Museum. GO also facilitated the Knox dinner groups where individuals, couples and families met for meals at the homes of participants or in restaurants.

We welcomed 34 new members to Knox in 2018. We lost 19 members, many of whom had completed their earthly journey. The Inquirers Series now has been improved to meet the needs of Inquirers as well as members of other Presbyterian churches as part of a transfer of membership. These changes will allow for flexibility of new member development, which was expressed as an opportunity from former Inquirers.


The Worship & Music Com-mittee facilitates meaningful worship experiences that pro-vide opportunities for partici-pants to strengthen their rela-tionship with God and with each other. In the past year, the committee has taken care of many expected behind-the-scenes tasks relating to worship services while also tackling

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some new initiatives. The committee’s accom-plishments include:

Sponsored “Music Appreciation Sun-day,” recognizing and thanking musi-cians from Fresh Spirit, Knox Choir, Bell Choir, and Children’s Choir for their wonderful contributions to the church.

Coordinated efforts with the Personnel Committee and other committees to brainstorm ideas regarding Fresh Spirit and to support creation of the new posi-tion of Director of Fresh Spirit Worship (Dave Annett).

Proposed to Session a time change for the Christmas Eve Service of Lessons and Carols from 11:00pm. to 9:00pm to im-prove attendance and make the service accessible to more people (attendance at the 9:00pm service in 2018 was higher than in the previous two years).

Facilitated the installation of new and improved lighting in the Knox Choir re-hearsal room.

In addition, two Knox Music Series concerts in March and December brought hundreds of visitors to Knox. Overflow seating was needed for Handel’s Messiah. The committee also supported the Cincinnati Conservatory of Mu-sic staged production of J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion in the Knox Commons and helped to host the 62-member Madrigalchor from Mu-nich, Germany, as they provided special music for traditional worship.

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�� The Stewardship team continued to look for ways to enable the Knox Community to fully embrace Stewardship. We initiated the Knox Connects event in June which featured teams, committees, activities, and other ways to get involved – inviting everyone to share their time and talents. The event was held June 3 after our first summer service during Lemonade on the Lawn. It was well-attended and we heard many positive comments.

After Knox Connects, we spent August cele-brating all that Knox accomplishes together and thanking everyone for all that members do to make such a positive impact on our church family, our community, and our world. In such

a busy world, it’s not often enough that we step back to reflect and celebrate the good.

In September, we turned our focus to the “treasure” aspect of Stewardship. We looked at abundance from several angles – challenging ourselves to think about what it means to share our abundance. Knox rose to the challenge: we reached nearly 90% of our participation goal, gained 39 first-time pledgers, and our pledged income will help enable a flat budget spend versus previous year in a time when giving is down across our nation. Thank you, Knox! You continue to bless us all with your abundance!

The duties of the Budget and Finance Commit-tee are to exercise overall responsibility for the financial matters of the church, including man-aging and monitoring the budget. To assure ac-curacy of our financial statements, members of the committee perform internal audits and coor-dinate a yearly external audit.

In 2018, instead of a budgeted deficit of $76,075, Knox finished the year with a surplus of $92,219! Knox received unbudgeted bequest income, had a favorable variance on non-pledge income, and experienced temporary vacancies in personnel. This surplus increases Session reserves, providing flexibility to support planned projects and Knox’s 2019 operating budget while maintaining our recommended level of reserves.

Pledge income for 2019 is projected to be the same as 2018. While the Stewardship Commit-tee has done an excellent job of increasing the number of new members pledging, we have lost some of our more senior members, who tend to

be our largest givers. Also, charitable giving in the U.S. is down 10-20%, so maintaining our pledge income is commendable and reflects the generosity of the Knox family.

We recommend the policy of maintaining Ses-sion reserves at a target of 10% of projected annual expenses. We also support the long-term policy of a balanced budget. Given these princi-ples and our pledge income for 2019, we have been able to meet certain increasing required expenses for 2019 with only a moderate 1% reduction in discretionary spending across all ministry areas, resulting in an overall flat budg-et compared with last year.

We appreciate the support of Knox members, commit-tees, staff, and es-pecially our Finan-cial Manager, Renche LeRoux.

$92,219 surplus

for 2018!

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2019 2018 2018

Budget Actual Budget

Income:

Gi s $ 1,337,900 $ 1,682,726 $ 1,387,400

Support From The Endowment 169,993 183,739 161,615

Other Income 17,000 14,703 8,120

Total Income $ 1,524,893 $ 1,881,168 $ 1,557,135

Expenses:

Mission & Benevolences $ 248,975 $ 300,434 $ 236,300

Pastoral Ministry 318,599 307,095 308,661

Faith Forma on 195,826 193,070 189,755

Worship & Music 203,638 204,203 213,769

Care, Growth & Communica on 223,216 194,415 200,328

Finance & Admin, Governance 180,480 156,591 177,975

Facility Maintenance & Renewal 259,380 433,141 306,422

Total Expenses $ 1,630,114 $ 1,788,949 $ 1,633,210

Surplus (Deficit) $ (105,221) $ 92,219 $ (76,075)

Unrestricted Reserve Balances:

Long Term Building Maintenance $ 39,815 $ 39,815 $ 23,750

Planned Projects $ 70,000 ‐ ‐

Session $ 163,000 $ 338,221 $ 169,927

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2018 was a bit more challenging year for Memorial & Endowments (M&E) at Knox. However, significant funds were still distributed to the church. As indi-cated in the table below, in 2018 we received contributions totaling $58,923. Due to rising interest rates and market corrections in October, our asset alloca-tion of 60% equities and 40% fixed income returned -.36% or -$16,785 net of all fees. In total, our assets ended the year lower by -$121,862. In 2018, we were able to disburse $163,739 to the church, broken out as follows:

1) $154,615 to the general operating budget 2) $1,500 to Mission & Social Concerns for new mission work 3) $950 from the Barb York Fund for appreciation of our Sunday School teachers and volunteers 4) $6,674 from the David Mooney Fund for youth at risk

And in December 2018 (subsequent to M&E’s October year-end) $20,000 was distributed via Knox Mission Projects Fund directly to Interfaith Hospitality Network as matching funds for their year-end fundraiser! Beginning Value 11/1/2017…………... $4,419,408.18

Distributions …………………………... ($ 163,739.00) Contributions ………………………….. $ 58,923.48 Return net of all fees……………………($ 16,785.49) Ending Value 10/31/2018…………….. $4,297,546.17

M&E again used multiple Sundays in May to drive awareness about ways peo-ple can leave a legacy at Knox, and how memorial, legacy and endowment gifts support Knox missions and ministries now and into the future. Partnering with the Director of Communications, we also initiated our on-going communication plan in 2018. To date, key elements have been monthly blurbs in the Knox bulletin, as well as periodic articles on legacy and/or endowment giv-ing. In addition, the plan includes two bulletin inserts and website listings a year, recognizing those who have been remembered or honored with memorial or trib-ute donations, those who have made gifts to the endowment, and those who left bequests to Knox.

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Our endowment fund is a way that we, as stewards, care for Knox, its congregation, ministries, missions and outreach. The endowment provides a layer of long-term security and support for all that Knox is and does. It is also an additional source of income year after year—in perpetuity. The “endowment fund” is, in actuality, four separate trusts at Knox.

The Knox Presbyterian Church Permanent Endowment Trust was established in May 1968, to perpetually carry out the ministry of Knox Church. Since then, three additional Trusts have been estab-lished to provide ongoing funding through Knox, for specific min-istries. These funds are the Mission Projects Endowment Trust, the David Scott Mooney Fund for Troubled Youth, and the Barbara York Fund for Christian Education.

These trusts were and are funded through the generosity and fore-sight of Knox members who make additional gifts beyond their annual pledges; who direct me-morial gifts to one of the trusts; and who include Knox in their wills, trusts or beneficiary desig-nations of IRAs, insurance policies, etc. These gifts make up the “principal” of the trusts. The principal is invested to produce income, allowing the trust to grow, while at the same time, dis-tributing a portion of that income each year to carry out the ministries of Knox. A growing en-dowment fund is one of the best ways to ensure that the ministries, missions and vision of Knox will thrive long into the future!

In 2018, Knox received gifts through legacy, endowment, memorials and tributes that supported not only the general endowment, but ministries such as the Tom York Lecture Series, the Knox Youth Program, the Knox Music Series, the Third Presbyterian Church basketball court, the Knox Men’s Group and many others.

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Sister Joan Chi ster, part of the Tom York Lecture Series.

Donuts with dad at the

Knox Preschool.

Knox Preschool has a reputa on as one of the area’s leading preschools.

Youth Group leadership building the faith of tomorrow’s church leaders!


� � � �� The Nominating Committee strives always to seek out Elders and Deacons with diverse, com-mitted, thoughtful and Christ-centered focus. This year we felt we brought together a strong slate of candidates; however, we were challenged by a few current serving Elders/Deacons who unfortunately had to step down due to personal reasons. With prayerful diligence, we filled our vacancies with wonderfully spiritual and equally dedicated individuals.

There are many devoted congregants at Knox and we need you to get involved as well. When called upon to serve in either the Ministry of Compassion and Service (Deacon) or the Ministry of Discernment and Governance (Elder), please search your God-heart for a place in our church’s ministry. It is truly one of the most important jobs you can do to see that our Lord Jesus’ love continues in this world.

�� The Knox Personnel Commit-tee strives to ensure pastors and staff receive fair pay and benefits, are enabled to func-tion at a high level and work in a collegial and affirming environment.

The committee monitors sala-ries and benefits to make sure they are in line with bench-marks for our region, exam-ines Knox’s organizational structure to ensure efficiency and balance, reviews and revises personnel policies to make sure they are well-founded and clear, and recognizes the Knox staff for its exceptional service to our church and its members.

Throughout the year, the committee worked closely with David Annett as he completed his seminary degree and sought to discern where God was calling him. As David felt led to serve as a part-time pastor at Cranston Memorial Presbyterian, the committee worked to restructure David’s job at Knox to clear the path for him so he could heed the call to the ordained position at Cranston and continue serving Knox as youth director and director of Fresh Spirit music.

In 2018, we welcomed Pete Tuff as director of operations, Christina Miller as office manager and Becky Bosarge as Coordinator of Congre-gational Care.

Peter Tuff


We also celebrated the retirement of Jan Annett as director of Stephen Ministry in December, recognizing the loving touch she has brought to so many at Knox during her 18 years of service.

In all it does, the Personnel Committee seeks to advance Knox’s mission, realize Knox’s vision and glorify and please God. Knox is richly blessed to have exceptional pastors and an exceptional staff dedicated to serving our church, its mem-bers and God.

Knox

Clerk

Jack S

Mode

Jeann

E —C 2021

Jouette Brenzel Jay Clark

Anne Davies Deb Fritz

Todd Graham Luis Gutierrez, youth

Jill Moormann Wayne Siebert Betsy Warwick

E – C 2020

Robert Bartlett Jillian Blubaugh

Paula Butler Judy DiEgidio Jennifer James

Heidi Knellinger Peter O’Shea

Karen Wirthlin

E —C 2019

Sheree Allgood Pamela Dillion

Kerry Duke Marty Freeman

Evan Nolan Cynthia Tripp

Barbara Wagner Chris Ward

Jim Howes filling an unexpired term.

D —C 2019

Bonnie Carothers Carna Hamilton Donald Caster Jeannette Jones Joy Battistini Melissa Baer Peggy Dewan Thad Driscoll

Douglas Ducket filling an unexpired term

CLERK OF SESSION (ELDERS), J S

D – C 2020

Brad Higginbotham Bryant Walker

Katie Burns Katie Fiorelli

Larry Van Kirk Mark Hageman Pam Ginsburg

Betty Prince filling An unexpired term.

D —C 2021

Becky Gash Becky Kennedy

Carrie Pastor Dan Long

David Crowley Liz Carr

Patricia Latessa Scott Shellabarger

Katherine Stautberg filling An unexpired term.

MODERATOR, BOARD OF DEACONS, J J

Christina Miller Becky Bosarge


�� It has been a year of many firsts in Faith Formation at Knox! One celebration in 2018 was the start of a “tween” group for sixth and seventh graders which meets regularly on Sunday mornings, but also has gatherings such as service projects and social events.

Children’s Sunday School con-tinued to thrive. We welcomed 12 new volunteers to the team this fall and continue to have support from many long-time volunteers.

During Advent, Knox kids raised money to purchase ani-mals to serve as income gener-ators in villages around the world through Presbyterian Giving. Each class chose what kind of animal to purchase! We look forward to exploring more ways for kids to learn about giving and serving.

The Children’s Choir had great participation in the Christmas Pageant, with 53 kids involved in pageant roles. A new musical oppor-tunity last year was a song-writing workshop with local musician Zak Morgan. The kids’ new song was premiered at Knox Rocks in the fall.

Faith Formation has adopted a new model which involves operating in teams for specific ministries and groups to allow people the freedom to serve in their area of interest and pas-sion and to encourage flexibil-ity for new ideas and pro-gramming. We have started using the term Faith For-mation (formerly Christian Education) to be more encom-passing of various aspects of spirituality (education being one of many).

The Knox Preschool continues to thrive. While neighboring preschools are reducing class offerings due to smaller enroll-ments, we are being confronted with a higher volume of applica-tions. While this is exciting, it does present challenges that re-quire innovation and creativity!

The preschool has gained a rep-utation as an excellent school and workplace, and we hired three staff members last year. We have increased our ability to recruit well-qualified teachers.

With the oversight of the Pre-school Board, we ended the school year with a $7,940 sur-plus. Our blacktopped play-ground received a new chain link fence and a wood privacy fence. Funds for were provided through a generous donation to the preschool. We added a play-house to the mulched play-ground, and the space between the two playgrounds has been transformed from an eyesore to a children’s garden and play area. We purchased new musical instruments and added a class that will focus on music. We also were able to provide a School House Symphony pro-gram, thanks to a generous do-nation from a Knox family.

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The youth of Knox had another exciting year of faith formation, fellowship and mission activities. The group spent the spring working on their musical fund-raiser, Seussical. The youth looked at storytelling and how it is used in our faith tradition. This theme was carried into a connection with the organization Bespoken, which led a storytelling workshop at youth group and during a Pres-

byterian Youth Connection retreat in February.

Knox Youth Group met each Sunday and participated in a variety of social and service activities. Our group has grown to include youth from several area Presbyterian churches and has a great leadership representation on our Presbytery’s Youth Con-nection Committee. Knox

youth took part in a Presbytery-led mission trip to Washington, DC in July to participate in a mission program called The Pilgrimage, hosted at Church of the Pilgrims in DC. The program was centered on the issue of homelessness in our nation’s capital, and our youth helped in soup kitchens, food pantries and other social service organizations. They also heard from homeless individuals and advocates about the larger systemic issues which cause homelessness, and even had a chance to speak with the staff of their representatives in Congress about what they had learned.

We added a new high school faith formation class to complement our youth group program. The class meets before youth group each week and takes a deeper dive into faith formation experiences for our youth. This also was the first year we had a group of college students attend the Montreat College Conference in January. The college students had a wonderful experience around the theme Compassionate Community, and we hope to grow the participation for next year’s conference.

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Mission is an important part of the life and focus of Knox. Mission funding in 2018 exceeded $300,000, with more $55,000 received in special offerings. Fund-ing is intended to cover a wide range of local, national and international human needs, including ministry, health, food and shelter, education, justice and peace, disaster relief, senior care, and homelessness. We currently support more than

two dozen mission partners.

Mission: Possible and Tailgate for Mission are examples of community involvement in support of our local mission partners. Tailgate for Mission gathered five carloads of donations for four mission partners. Ninety adults and 44 children participated in Mission: Possible and provided services to three Knox mission partners and helped with Knox building and grounds projects.

Our partnership with Third Church has been a source of growth and satisfaction for both Knox volunteers and Third Church members. Programs include Men’s Group break-fasts, after-school tutoring, fellowship meals, the Knox picnic, Vacation Bible School, a Christmas party and monthly birthday parties. Other projects focus on updating the physical structure, including plans for a basketball court, children’s playground, and a community garden.

Childhood Food Solutions, a local mission partner, delivers food sacks to children on Friday afternoons to help allevi-ate childhood food insecurity over weekends and holidays.

Knox provided financial support, as well as 2,000 bags of food assembled by 43 volunteers at Mission Possible.

The Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) provides services to homeless families looking for housing and/or jobs. In 2018, we housed six rotations of IHN guests that included 85 adults and children. This mission would not have been possible without the generous support of over 115 volunteers during 2018.

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Thank you to our mission partners for their work!

Presbytery Mission Treasury Service Third Presbyterian Church

Building Tomorrow Childhood Food Solutions (CFS)

Center for Respite Care West End Emergency Center

Crossroads Health Center Madisonville Education & Assistance Center (MEAC)

Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) Interfaith House of Adams County Hyde Park Center for Older Adults

Transforming Jail Ministry NEXT Church

Montreat Conference Center Jerusalem International YMCA Peace Preschool

Louisville Theology Seminary Knox Preschool Scholarship

Coop for Education (Guatemala) East End Adult Education

Knox Michigan Avenue Food Bag Program Knox Transportation Ministry

Knox Deacon’s Sandwich Making Project Knox Mission: Possible expenses

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PCUSA) International Peacemaker Annual Award

Mission in Taiwan (Jon A. Seitz) Mission in Congo (Jeff & Christy Boyd)

Knox Mission trip to West Virginia

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,-./ ��Fronczek, Adam H.

Reister, Jana R.

Annett, David

Baines, Daphene

Bosarge, Becky

Chasteen, Virginia

Drummond, Tara

Haan, Christina

Hubert, Tina

leRoux, Renche

Miller, Christina

Overstreet, Buttons

Rivers, Earl G.

Savage, Pam

Tuff, Pete

Ward, Pam

Williams, Glenn

Pastor, Head of Staff

Associate Pastor

Director of Youth Ministries & Fresh Spirit Worship

Coordinator of Bereavement

Congregational Care Coordinator

Administrative Assistant

Children’s Choir Director

Organist

Director of Christian Education

Financial Manager

Office Manager

Custodian

Director of Music

Director, Knox Preschool

Director of Operations

Faith Community Nurse

Director of Communications

annual report 2018 final - knox.org · 6 knox presbyterian church 2018 annual report the growth...

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