The blessings of God have been poured out on the United Church of God in many ways this past year. Among those blessings has been God's provision of ample financial resources to press forward in doing the work of the Church. For that we give God thanks, accompanied with a sober desire to use what He has made available in a wise, prudent and biblical way.

For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006, the unrestricted income of UCGIA was just over $21.4 million, which is 5.5 percent more than was budgeted. That strength in income, coupled with total expenses of $20.5 million (1 percent more than budgeted), resulted in a surplus of slightly less than $1 million for the fiscal year.

This has permitted the Church to maintain its solid financial footing and to be in a position to face the new fiscal year with greater operational flexibility than in times past. We have already taken the step of providing additional funding for the furtherance of both dimensions of the Church's mission. Ongoing discussions will, we hope, soon lead to the hiring of more men into the pastoral ministry than was originally planned. We also have recently freed up significant additional funds to augment the preaching of the gospel.

We thank the brethren for their faithfulness in tithes and offerings and their prayers to God on behalf of the work of the Church. The members of the Church account for nearly 90 percent of the Church's income. We also are grateful for an increase in the number of donors and coworkers who, though many are not regular attendees of our Church services, have expressed in tangible terms their support for the work of the Church.

In financial terms, the Church is now stable, certainly by historic standards, and is leveraged to increase its efforts to perform its work in an increasingly challenging world. Even so, we have but "a little strength"—in measurable terms—when compared to the scope of the work still ahead of us. This is all the more reason for us to consider our utter dependence on God for the wherewithal to do what we are expected to do. But the help of God is sure, so long as we please Him.

As always, we solicit the prayers of God's people for the wisdom to be good and proper stewards of the financial resources He so graciously gives the Church. UN