Summary

It was a mixed bag this quarter. Accreditation marked a significant milestone for RiverLife, but decreased giving and Fall ministry expenses put a financial strain on the church.

Ministry Highlights

• RiverLife finally became an officially accredited church in the Alliance (after 6 months of hard work and a pandemic delay).

• 46 youth attended the HLUB conference in July, resulting in 11 youth baptisms at camp and here at home.

• Despite the rain, we served hundreds of our Eastside neighbors at National Night Out at the Conway Rec Center with Bahn Mi hotdogs, cotton candy, and a bounce house.

• Simple Summer events at STP & BP were a hit, with solid attendance and lots of fun.

• You donated 300 lbs. of school supplies for Eastern Heights Elementary in St. Paul and Edinbrook Elementary in Brooklyn Park.

• At the July Work Day for the St. Paul campus, we cleaned out the overstuffed garage and beautified the church sign with new flowers.

Attendance

• Attendance picked up in September after a steady Q2 and summer.

• Quarterly average: 212.

  • 9% Lower than last quarter (232). If we exclude Easter, it’s only 3% lower.

  • 17% higher than this time last year (181).

  • September saw a 5% bump from Summer (July, Aug). This is fairly normal for RiverLife.

Financial Update

Balance Sheet (Q3)

Income: $84,951
Expenses: $95,293
Net: $-10,342

Balance Sheet (YTD)

Income: $288,404
Expenses: $273,081
Net: +$15,323

Revenue Sources (Q3)

Offering: 86%
Twins Fundraiser: 6%
Facility Rental: 4%
Covid Clinics: 2%
Translation at CPA: 2%

Monthly Revenue (all sources)

All three months of Q3 were below budget.

Progress on 2023 Goals

1. Become an Accredited Church

   • Done and done! (As of Sept. 10, 2023) ✅

2. Improve the Financial Health of the Church

   • This was a difficult quarter for church finances.

   • Decreased giving and increased expenses for Fall ministry launches reduced our savings by about $10,000.

3. Develop a Comprehensive Discipleship Strategy

   • No significant progress on this goal in Q3.

4. Become a Voice of Influence for Next-Gen Hmong Ministry

   • Had multiple discussions about adding a podcast

   • Finalized basic branding:

     • Name: The RiverLife Ministry Blog/Podcast

     • Tagline: “Simple Talk and Practical Ideas for Ministry to Next-Gen Hmong”

     • Strategy: Positioning ourselves as people’s individual ministry mentors, e.g. “Hi, I’m Greg… and I’m Kong… and we’re your ministry mentors…”

   • Plan to launch nextgenhmong.com blog in Q4.