Tuesday noon-1:30pm - Pastor Julie Zoom office hours
all online, see links at www.hopecp.org
Dear People of Hope,
The building is closed but the church is open. In these still-unusual days, ministry at Hope continues. Your continued giving makes all this possible.
We host online worship each Sunday in partnership with St Andrew's Episcopal Church. About 100 households sign on each week, some from quite far away. We are building an ecumenical partnership with one of our closest neighbors in College Park.
Every Wednesday there is an evening Bible Study. The group has studied the books of Esther, Revelation, Daniel, books not often talked about on Sunday morning. The group has also studied a parable, talked about forgiveness, and continues to look at passages that rarely come up on Sunday mornings.
Kids Sunday School meets every week, an increase from their previous 2ce-a-month in-person gatherings. About 3-4 teachers and 4-6 families sign on each week for a story, craft, and connecting with God and each other.
Friday's Moms in Community Group continues, meeting 2ce a month throughout the summer. Each session, 4-8 moms and their babies sign on to greet each other, ask questions, and support each other in this isolating time.
The PG Plaza Day Center still serves lunch twice a week and Hope provides the meal at our usual once-a-month time. Volunteers prepare bag lunches to hand out to guest.
These are just some of the ways that the love of God is expressed through Hope Lutheran church. The building is closed, but the church is open. Thank you for being a part of this church.
May God's love be with you this week, Pastor Julie
Watch our Sunday worship services here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb3sPisSvuvo7IhDIFQklbg
------- Watch the Humble Walk graduation gala here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDb8216Tr9XT0gZAmqmkgvw
------- For additional calendar notes or Zoom links, visit our website: www.hopecp.org
Financial Update From Hope's Treasurers
Income
Many of you may be wondering how the pandemic has impacted our income. The chart below provides total revenue for all income categories for January – April 2020. As you can see in the first row, we are happy to report that offerings have remained steady (including for March and April since we began virtual services). However, we lost the revenue from space sharing with the Living Water congregation and from student parking beginning in April as well as donations towards movies@Hope. We expect to continue to lose this revenue through the duration of the pandemic.
A comparison is provided in the below chart:
Expenses The same question may be asked about expenses. What has changed with the pandemic? The council voted at its March meeting to continue to pay staff throughout the pandemic whether duties changed or decreased. Therefore, salary expense has remained as budgeted. There have been slight savings on some other expenses since the beginning of the pandemic (utilities, materials and supplies). However, we had a major elevator repair in April (costing over $4,000) bringing total expenses for January – April to $69,467 which is very similar to our expenses for January – April 2019 of $69,121.
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) The council also voted in March to apply for the Payroll Protection Program. This program was established by Congress under the CARES Act to help small businesses and non-profits (including religious establishments) to continue to pay staff, mortgage interest, and utilities for eight weeks. The ELCA provided information to congregations and encouraged them to apply. With the help of our accounting firm, Point by Point (formerly Hetrick and Associates), Hope submitted an application for $14,354.30 April 9th. Our application was successful and we received $9,769 on May 11. While less money than we had requested, we were informed by the bank that many people received 25-30% less than was asked for. This money will help us to pay our expenses. The is considered a loan. However, the loan is completely forgiven (does not have to be paid back and interest does not have to be paid), if it is spent as detailed in the law within eight weeks. Seventy-five (75%) of the money must be spent on payroll and the remaining twenty-five (25%) can be spent on mortgage interest and utilities. Mike Hetrick, our accountant, is confident that we will be able to spend the money in accordance with the law so we do not anticipate needing to pay any interest on this loan. If you have any questions about this program, please contact me or anyone on the council.
Respectfully submitted, Paulette Thompson
Treasurer
--- 1- Designated and Restricted is negative due to cash flow. An outlay of funds for gift cards for Langley Park Food Assistance occurred in April. The deposit for the funds will show up in May.
GIVING TO HOPE
You can use any of the below methods to make a one-time donation or set up a recurring gift. Just like the offering collection in worship, electronic donations are used to support Hope's mission and ministry.
NEW Ways to Donate to Hope:
Text to give: Text 844-904-1808. In the message, type how much you want to give. The first time you do it you need to "register." Questions? Watch this video that shows how to text to give.
Phone app: Go to the app store on your phone. Download the GivePlus mobile app. Search for the church by name: Hope Evangelical Lutheran church or zip code: 20740. If you already have an online account with Vanco, Sign In using your email address. If you don't already have an account, Create an account.
FAMILIAR Ways to Donate to Hope:
Mail: You may write a check and put it in the mail. Make the check out to “Hope Lutheran Church” and mail it to Hope Lutheran Church, 4201 Guilford Drive, College Park MD 20740
Online: Go to hopecp.org. Click on the Donate tab at the top of the Home page. Follow the prompts and complete the boxes.
Calendar and Links
Wednesday, May 27 (and following Wednesdays) 12:30-1:30pm Contemplative Prayer
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/6083039144 (meeting ID 608-303-9144)
password: Christos
Wednesday May 27 (and following Wednesdays), 7pm Bible Study
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/883615306
Friday May 29, 11am-noon Moms Group
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/896902836
Saturday May 30 noon-1:30pm, Peace Not Walls Holy Land event
http://support.elca.org/site/MessageViewer;jsessionid=00000000.app20058b?em_id=5330.0&dlv_id=0¤t=true&em_id=5330.0&NONCE_TOKEN=B9431025444CC349FD26F02D769BB259
Sunday May 31
9am Kids Sunday School
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/255708731?pwd=MVlEa2FYbXhiZ044WEdjYVc0OWFqdz09
10am sign on for Pentecost worship
10:30am worship take your computer or phone outdoors to feel the wind of the Holy Spirit
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/338100220?pwd=dkdBZFhsZmJuWXNEWXNBajk5d1Nudz09
Sunday May 31, 4pm – Metro DC Synod Wide Pentecost Worship Service
on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgyDnZhK2A8
and facebook: https://www.facebook.com/metrodcelca/
Tuesday June June 2, noon-1:30pm, Pastor Julie virtual office hours
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85728913891
or call: 301 715 8592
and give meeting ID: 857 2891 3891
Friday June 5, 7:30pm, movies@hope presents "Crimes and Misdemeanors"
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81978984230
Monday June 8, all day Franklin’s Fundraiser
No link- ACTUALLY @ Franklins!
Sunday June 14, 9am final Sunday School of the session same link as above
