TRINITY CHURCH
ANNUAL REPORT - 2023
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 Team
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 Katherine Ray, Junior Warden Dave Hensley, 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, 2022, Trinity’s assets included two Money Market deposit accounts, at First Citizens Bank and Self Help Credit Union with combined balances of $296,875, an operating checking account and an investment portfolio managed by Parsec Financial that is comprised of restricted, unrestricted, and Legacy assets of Trinity Church with a balance of $1.8 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.
Over the past year, Trinity has received several very generous unrestricted bequests, including a living endowment that has strengthened the financial security of the parish. 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 Parsec Financial.
Our focus continues to be on being good stewards of the assets of the parish. While 2022 was a difficult year for the financial markets, we have had regular meetings with our investment managers. This year, we made a recommendation to Vestry to begin to utilize a Treasury Money Market Fund for the cash reserves of the church, and this recommendation is in the process of being implemented.
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
Investment Team Report - October 15, 2023
Stewardship Team
A comforting truth of faith is found in casting one’s care on God, who is the true anchor of our souls! This year’s stewardship theme, “An Anchor For The Soul'' reminds us that we rest in the changelessness of God. There are few, if any, guarantees in life, yet the one that we all proclaim and hold to is that God’s love, grace, and forgiveness will never fail.
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Trinity strongly depends on pledged giving to reach our budgetary dreams for each fiscal year. As in years past, our campaign for 2024 started in September with an electronic pre-campaign, giving members a short, quick, and easy way to return their pledge commitments to Trinity. In the first weeks of October we reached out by U.S. mail to those households who had not yet responded. We will finish up our campaign in November with vestry members reaching out to those who have not yet had a chance to respond to the online or written pledge requests.
We could not do this without the help of our Stewardship Team – Scott, Amy, Ken, Robyn, Nanette, and Dillon (retired); and our two vestry liaisons, Cissie Stevens and Stuart Camblos.
Respectfully submitted,
Jan Hildebrand & Jo Rice
Treasurer's Report​
The Finance Committee team has met twice during the year to review Trinity’s financial reports. The committee continues to assess the cash position of the church with a focus on no-interest-bearing funds. This resulted in a recommendation to the vestry to increase the funds available for investment. The church’s investments have done well this year, showing an increase of $465,000 compared with September 2022.
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The committee will soon begin work on the draft 2024 budget for approval by the vestry. The church is again in a strong financial position for the current year with a $153,000 positive variance to budget on August 31, 2023.
The committee comprises parishioners and staff members: Treasurer Jennifer Weidemann, Katherine Ray, Linda Watt, Steven Bennett, Don Weidemann, Jan Hildebrand, Robyn McNeal, and Scott White.
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Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Weidemann
Treasurer
Treasurer's Report - October 15, 2023
Assets Held by Trinity Church - Endowed Designated Funds
Summary of Revenue & Expenses
