June 24, 2021

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:31–33, NIV)

Dear First Baptist Church Family,

I want to begin by saying I am truly blessed that I can see just how amazing our God is on a daily basis as He works in and through First Baptist Church. Time and time again, I see that God provides for our needs exactly when we need them. One example of this would be raising the funds to fix the air conditioners in the narthex. The trustees and I didn’t know how we would raise the money in time, but prayerfully we continued to move forward with the project. It was uplifting to seeing God work through the people of this church to raise the money needed at the exact moment we needed it. I tell you this because I believe that God will continue to provide for us as we make our way through 2021.

For those who don’t remember, during the annual meeting this year, I expressed concern that for most of 2020, our expenses were higher than our income. Unfortunately, this trend has continued into 2021, and our expenses are still higher than our income. In addition, giving for 2021 is down by 10% compared to this time last year. So, what does all this mean? There is not enough money coming in to pay our bills, and we have had to use just about all our savings to cover the difference. At the time of this letter, there is $7,771.69 left in the General Fund that has not been designated for other ministries. It is important to note that we are currently up to date on all our bills except for Missions. Regrettably, due to that lack of funds, the trustees have decided to suspend paying missions for June and will reevaluate paying missions on a month-to-month basis.

At this time, I ask everyone to pray for the church’s finances and for the trustee committee, that they would make wise and godly decisions. As I stated earlier, I genuinely believe that God will take care of our needs as long as we seek first his righteousness and are open to his guidance.

In Christ,

Dennis Dunwoodie
First Baptist Church of Cape May
Treasurer