March 7th, 2024

Hello One Voice family,

Normally at this time of year we hold a Vision & Finance meeting as we look back to the previous year and forward toward the next year. However, due to various reasons last year's meeting kept being pushed back and we ended up holding a Vision & Finance meeting during the Sunday worship service in November. At that time we presented 2022 financials as well as most of 2023 to that date. If you'd like to listen to everything we presented in November, click the button below.
Since we recently held that meeting, we didn't feel it was necessary to hold another meeting that would cover much of the same content that was recently presented. That being said, we still wanted share the final financial numbers from 2023 with you and highlight a few changes in 2024.


The Big Picture

Overall, 2023 was an exciting year for our church family. In June, we purchased the building on 75th street & 25th avenue that has become our church home since we began renting in May 2022. In 2023 we launched a third home group, we celebrated baptisms, and we have had such rich times worshipping the Lord on Sunday mornings. A pipe burst in the boiler room in January 2023 and after a lengthly process we were able to get everything fixed and up and the heat running before fall. Although financially 2023 has been difficult, God has proven his goodness and faithfulness to us again and again and we are excited for how He is growing our church family.


2023 Financial Highlights

Here's a few key notes about our 2023 financials. You can find our year end Profit Loss and Balance Sheets at the bottom of this page.
  • 2023 Tithes & Offerings was $20,000 higher than 2022, for a total of $170,720.88. Although we did not have any outside support in 2023 like we had in 2022 & 2021.
  • 2023 Total Expenses was $21,000 higher than in 2022, for a total of $197, 621.32. That does not include the $75,000 down payment we put on the church building.
  • 2023 NET Operating came to $26,900.44 in the red (over-spent). Much of this was due to the boiler repair and other costs associated with just purchasing a building.
  • Total Boiler Repair costs from the pipe that burst in 2023 came out to $31,324. We split that cost 50/50 with Christian Reformed Church (who we purchased the building from).
  • We gave $23,438.81 in 2023 to missions work both here in Kenosha and around the world. A large portion of that went to One Church Ministries, the organization we had been working with until fall of 2023 (more on that in our highlights for 2024 below). We also support Kingdom Partners Global and their work feeding 1,000 people in Kenya. Additionally we have supported many different local events and organizations here in Kenosha to share the love of Christ both in meeting physical needs and spiritual needs.
  • For the purchase of the building, we paid 30% ($75,000) as a downpayment and financed the remaining about ($175,000) with U.S. Bank. The interest rate is 6.56% and our monthly payment is $1,539.63.
  • We spent $2,165.14 in 2023 on Credit Card processing fees from donations we received. The best way to give here at One Voice is to setup ACH (bank transfer) giving through the Church Center App. By doing that, we would not have to pay any credit card fees associated with your donation.
  • We ended 2023 with a balance of $21,655.47 in our checking & savings accounts. We should really keep a minimum balance around $35,000 (about two months of expenses) in our accounts to maintain a healthy cashflow and be sustainable through months where giving is lower than usual.

Vision for 2024

At our Vision & Finance meeting in November, we shared a few initiatives we are excited about bringing to the church in 2024. First, we launched Starting Point to help us connect with new people and help them know how they can become a part of One Voice. It's been so great so far and something we look forward to each month. We also launched our Vision Track in January. This is our discipleship course designed to help people better understand who we are, what we believe, and how they can grow in their faith. You can learn more about Vision Track here: https://onevoicekenosha.churchcenter.com/pages/vision-track

Another change for 2024 is our connection with One Church Ministries (OCM). Since we launched One Voice Church in October 2021, OCM has been so helpful in providing support and care for our leaders. We are truly grateful for their partnership. As we shared at our service on September 10th, 2023, the time has come for us to move out from under OCM and spread our wings so to speak into the ministry God is calling us. We want to reiterate, we do still very much love John Lalgee and the OCM team and churches. As you know, we believe unity in Jesus' church is critically important and although we are no longer part of OCM, we will at times partner together with OCM and other churches in our area to fulfill the mission God has given us. Practically speaking, we have decided to no longer tithe 10% of our income to OCM but instead to tithe to ministries that are working to plant multiethnic churches. Our One Voice Church tithe from September to November 2023 was given to a multiethnic church plant called Anchor Church in Champaign, IL for a total of $5,222.24. We have been encouraged by what they are doing and wanted to show them love and support in this way. Going forward we have decided to send our tithe to Transformation Church in Indianland, SC. Pastor Derwin Gray and his team have been so encouraging to us as we work to build a multi-ethnic church here in Kenosha. We have chosen to support their efforts to plant more multi-ethnic churches and equip pastors and leaders to build multi-ethnic ministries.


Financial Updates for 2024

We also wanted to share a couple financial updates with you for 2024.
  • First, with the current status of our finances and all that we spent in 2023, we are trying to keep our 2024 budget trimmed down as much as possible. We really need to build back up our accounts so that we have a healthy cash flow. Because of that, we are not planning to do any significant renovations or launch any ministry projects that would require financial support in 2024.
  • Second, we (David, Kirby & Matt) have made the difficult decision to decrease our salaries by 33% in 2024. There's not much in the budget we feel can be cut at this point without significantly affecting our ministry operations. Making this change will save the church about $2,000/month and put One Voice in a healthier place financially. Please pray for our families and God's provision for us via other means. This is not the first sacrifice we have made - we trust God fully and are committed to you and the vision God has given us to build a multiethnic church.
  • Lastly, we want to encourage each of you to give and support the work of One Voice Church financially. Some of you have given sacrificially and faithfully for years and we are so grateful. Others of you have given a little, given sporadically, or haven't given at all. We understand this is a difficult time financially for many people and are truly compassionate to that. And yet, God calls all of us to be generous people and to support the work of ministry. We would ask that you take some time this week to pray and ask God to lead you in your financial support of One Voice Church (if you're married, take some time to pray together with your spouse). We're not going to shake anybody down or call anyone out or anything like that. We love you whether you are our biggest donor or you haven't given at all and we want to see each of you grow in your faith and obedience to Jesus. We want to see the ministry of One Voice Church grow. We know God has amazing plans for us as a church and we honestly need financial support to accomplish the mission he's called us to. We invite each of you to partner with us in this way and see what God does in you as you give faithfully to this church.

Full Reports

Click a button below to view the full financial reports from 2023.
If you have any questions at all, please feel free to reach out to us. Talk to us after a service, send us an email, or message us on Facebook. We love each of you and are excited for the year ahead!

- David, Kirby & Matt