2024 Annual Celebration
LT Chair Report to Congregation
September 2024
Dear Pine Lake Covenant Church Family,
As we reflect on the 2024 fiscal year at Pine Lake Covenant Church, I want to share with you the highlights of a year marked by challenges, transitions, and rewards for our leadership team and our entire church community. While the year brought tasks with the familiar rhythm of church business, it also included significant staff changes and unexpected events. Though the year did not unfold exactly as we expected, I believe that these changes have prepared us for a new work and a new season of ministry.
Throughout the year, we relied on our faithful God, who has gone before us and prepared the way. We were also grateful for the firm foundation laid by wise leaders over the past forty years, whose strong governing principles and documents provided the guardrails that kept us on track. Additionally, we received invaluable support and guidance from the Pacific Northwest Conference (PacNWC) and the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC). Most importantly, the people of Pine Lake Covenant Church (PLCC) have generously given of their time, talents, and treasures to sustain the ministries and missions of our church. Finally, the Leadership Team deeply appreciated the support, encouragement, and prayers of the people of Pine Lake.
I am especially thankful for the members of the Leadership Team, a group of wise, faithful, and resolute individuals. They kept our focus on the rhythms of our church ministries, calendar, and business while staying flexible to manage the rest of the things that came our way during the year.
Stewardship:
The Stewardship Team, which was restructured with a new charter last year, was a catalyst for change. By shifting the budgeting process to early in the spring, they enabled the staff, Leadership Team, and ministry leaders to know well before the summer the financial resources that would be available when the fall programs kick off, allowing for better ministry planning. The team’s ongoing focus on the spiritual discipline of regular, planned giving has helped each of us to be better stewards of resources God has given us, ensuring that the people of PLCC can pursue the ministries to which God is calling us.
Missions:
The Mission & Outreach Team has transformed how we select and support the missions we engage with, ensuring that our efforts align with our church’s vision and values. Through prayerful discernment and wise judgment, this group is helping our church to live out our call to serve both our community and the world.
Staff:
The Leadership Team continues to prioritize the compensation of our pastors and staff. The improvements in our budgeting process, along with better handling of changes to benefits, have had a positive impact in this area.
The Leadership Team and the staff have benefited from our pastors attending Leadership Team meetings at least once each quarter, allowing us to better understand their work, concerns, and needs.
This year brought significant changes to our pastoral staff:
- In the fall, Pastor Austin took a leave of absence. During this time, with the support of our pastors, staff, ministry leaders, the PacNWC, and the PLCC community, our church continued to grow and serve both our local community and the wider world.
- In the winter, after ten years of ministry at PLCC, Pastor Nancy de Jong resigned to pursue a new direction in her ministry.
- In the spring, after six years of ministry at PLCC, Pastor Mark Neely was called to serve as the lead pastor of Clairemont Covenant Church in San Diego. We knew when we hired Mark that his calling might lead him elsewhere after five years. However, even after six years it still came as a surprise.
These transitions, occurring in such a brief period, presented significant challenges, but through each one, we saw God’s presence, provision, and guidance. We were blessed with:
- Wise and prayerful Leadership Team members;
- Skilled and resolute pastors, staff, and lay leaders;
- Solid governance documents and a strong culture built over 40 years;
- Support from our denomination;
- A resolute, trusting, and prayerful PLCC community;
- And a God who was going before us to make a straight path in the wilderness.
One immediate need that resulted from these transitions was the need for interim pastors. Once again, we found that God had already provided for us by having Pastor Becca and Pastor Kyle on staff and able to fill these roles.
As we enter the new year, the Leadership Team is focused on implementing a staffing model that fits the size of our congregation and supports the types of ministries to which we are being called. We are looking forward to calling Associate Pastors to join our team.
We also are looking forward to aligning our church governance documents, policies, and employee handbook to ensure they are clear, synchronized, and up to date with the needs of our church and the requirements of our times. We will be forming a team to conduct this work and keep these documents current. Another team will be set up to help with risk management improvements and governance.
Thank you for your continued support, prayers, and dedication to Pine Lake Covenant Church. Together, with God’s help, we look forward to the year ahead with hope and anticipation for all that He has in store for us.
In Christ, Curtis Repp
Leadership Team Chair
Pine Lake Covenant Church
Lead Pastor Report
Pine Lake Covenant Church,
I thank God each day for each one of you! Each day I thank God for how faithful He has been to each one of us and to our church. I am astounded at how He is forming each one of you to be the church and be a light in our community. Throughout this year we have seen many things, but there are two things I want to remind us of.
- You are the Church: Many churches know this, but Pine Lake Covenant exemplifies being the church. You don’t just attend, but you know that you are called and embody being the body of Christ to one another. Jesus said the world would know us by how we love one another. Pine Lake is an amazing place where love is known and shared.
- You are Spirit-led: I have countless conversations with people who say they can feel the Spirit in our church. Pine Lake Covenant doesn’t seek to have all the answers, but follow the Spirit who does. I could not be more proud of being part of a church that seeks to know, experience, and seek after the Holy Spirit.
I believe the best days are ahead for PLCC. With the strength of our congregation, leaders, and faithfulness of our God, we are primed to make an impact in Sammamish, the plateau, and beyond.
CELEBRATIONS
We have much to celebrate. A core characteristic of our church has to be the gratitude we have for the Lord and for one another! Part of our regular rhythm is to give all praise and thanksgiving to the Lord from whom all blessings flow!
- Baptisms: We continue to see new life in Christ happening. It is wonderful to see people making a public declaration of faith. In August, we had a beautiful picture of 4 generations being represented.
- Visitors: Week in and week out we have seen new people visiting and some of those people deciding that Pine Lake Covenant is the place God is calling them to continue their discipleship to Jesus.
- Stewardship: We hit over 95% of our targeted budget! This means our congregation is faithfully trusting and giving! We are also celebrating an alignment with our HR expenses ratio to overall budget!
- Pastors: God answered a prayer we were not praying when He brought Pastor Becca and Pastor Kyle to our community in 2021. We are excited as we move through the call process for our associate pastoral positions.
CHALLENGES
There were hills and there were valleys. We experienced some rough seasons where we had to rely not on our sight or understanding, but seek the King of the Kingdom. Some of the challenges we faced this year happened in a few different areas.
- Associate Pastors: We saw our two beloved associate pastors discern that God was calling them into new ministry seasons. We mourned the loss of Pastor Nancy and Pastor Mark who we have to thank for creating and sustaining us through difficult seasons. During that time, they not only sustained ministry, but also saw it thrive. We are the church we are today because of their good and faithful ministry.
- Facilities: In the transitions between each weather season, we’ve experienced HVAC problems. With building B aging, we had to address furnace and compressor failures. With those fixed, we are looking to ways to create longevity in regards to building B, which is heavily used by our church and community.
- Pastoral Leave: In the fall, I was asked to take a leave of absence. The leave was longer and harder than the church or I expected. Pine Lake Covenant Church was led incredibly well by staff and leaders. It caused us to learn how to trust God while in the wilderness.
We know that when a community is thriving and seeking after God, the evil one wants to disrupt. We may not be able to stop the disruptions, but we will face them together.
VISION
We are and will be a church that Finds and Follows Jesus, Together! It’s time to take the next step to become the church we are called to be, not what the world expects us to be. We are excited to present at the Annual Celebration the pathway the Spirit is leading us towards. We are presenting a 5-year vision centered around 6 missional values. Those values are:
- Unified Vision—“To Find and Follow Jesus, Together”
- Invitational Ethos
- Culture of Generosity
- Disciple Making Pathways
- Love of Neighbor
- A Priesthood Structure
Together in Christ,
Rev. Austin Bailey
Stewardship Team Overview
At PLCC, we are a community committed to finding and following Jesus together! Following Jesus means giving our time, talent, and treasure as ways to grow our discipleship and engage in ministry. In this current year, we have seen people step up and out in faith by giving faithfully of their resources. Nevertheless, we remain challenged by a gap between ministry needs in our bare-bones budget and current giving.
In 2025, the Stewardship team will continue its emphasis on whole-life stewardship as part of growing as Jesus followers. We are confident that as our church body grows in stewardship, individuals will come to know Jesus, grow in him, and the kingdom of God will expand. We also would like to expand the Stewardship team. If you are interested in serving on the team, please contact Jessica Wilgus or Loren Gustafson.
2024 Lookback
- Giving Income is expected to be roughly $883,500 for the year (~95% approved budget)
- Other Income (non-recurring) from ERC (one time IRS refund) and recurring Building use fees are roughly 147K so far this year
- Expenses are expected to come in at roughly 112% of expected.
- Staff expenses were slightly greater than expected
- Reserve Fund Activity:
- Other Income funds are being set aside/transferred to reserve funds for pastoral housing assistance and building maintenance costs we are planning for in the next 3-5 years
- Net Year-end estimate: We are estimating PLCC to end the fiscal year (August 2024) with a roughly $44,000 budget shortfall (when including Other Income).
2025 Outlook
- Stewardship & Leadership is proposing a balanced budget
- Income:
- We are proposing a flat giving income target for 2025 compared to 2024
- Expenses:
- Staff expenses will be down year over year
- Specific areas of focus
- Maintenance & Technology Investments
- Rebuilding Reserve funds & Emergency Savings
- Budgeting/planning (known as transfers) for Long Term Maintenance (e.g. painting, roofing) and Pastoral Housing Assistance
**On mobile device, rotate or side-scroll to view full tables**
| As of July | Budget | Actuals | Est. Year End (net) |
| Total Giving Income | $870,650 | $824,736 | $921,723 |
| % variance | 94.7% | $(51,313) | |
| Other Income | $28,311 | $46,000 | |
| Total Expense | $894,040 | $999,926 | $1,095,000 |
| % variance | 111.8% | $122,217 | |
| Projected Net Income (July) | $(127,530)* | ||
| *Excluding other income |
| Previous Year Budget (24) | Proposed Budget (25) | Year/year % change | |
| Total Income | $973,036 | $981,324 | 1% |
| Total Expense | $972,783 | $979,046 | 1% |
▼ Click to download detailed 2025 Budget
Check out our Five-Year Vision using the button below.
