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Greetings to all. In last week’s note I mentioned that that our Financial Resources Ministry recommended and our Leadership Team approved submitting an application for a Payroll Protection Loan from the Small Business Administration through our banker, Winchester Cooperative Bank. I’m delighted to tell you that our application was approved and that we have received nearly $94,000 from the program, based on a multiple of our monthly payroll. This money will be used to ensure that our outstanding staff members continue to be fully compensated moving forward regardless of potential impacts to our church revenues as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Our Financial Resources Ministry recommended that we participate in the program based on the very real uncertainty for both 2020 and 2021 revenues. The guidelines for the program provide for full forgiveness of the loan as long as we are able to demonstrate that at least 75% of the money is used for staff compensation over the course of the next eight weeks.
The Southern New England Conference of the UCC recommended that churches apply for these loans and we know of several who applied and received funds, although we are also aware of a couple of churches that chose not to apply. We are also aware of the reporting in the news regarding inequities in how this government funded program was initially rolled out. Separately from receiving these PPP funds and using them for our payroll needs, FCCW leaders plan to investigate whether other local organizations or churches need help accessing current or future PPP funds, or whether there is some other way of helping and supporting groups that were unable to access the program.
We are grateful that our local bank was able to submit our loan application, that we received the funds we were eligible for and that we can protect the livelihoods of our employees – ministers, office administrator, organist, building manager and superintendent, and independent contractors. We hope this grants them some peace of mind.
Bruce Lauterwasser,
Treasurer
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Greetings to all. In last week’s note I mentioned that that our Financial Resources Ministry recommended and our Leadership Team approved submitting an application for a Payroll Protection Loan from the Small Business Administration through our banker, Winchester Cooperative Bank. I’m delighted to tell you that our application was approved and that we have received nearly $94,000 from the program, based on a multiple of our monthly payroll. This money will be used to ensure that our outstanding staff members continue to be fully compensated moving forward regardless of potential impacts to our church revenues as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Our Financial Resources Ministry recommended that we participate in the program based on the very real uncertainty for both 2020 and 2021 revenues. The guidelines for the program provide for full forgiveness of the loan as long as we are able to demonstrate that at least 75% of the money is used for staff compensation over the course of the next eight weeks.The Southern New England Conference of the UCC recommended that churches apply for these loans and we know of several who applied and received funds, although we are also aware of a couple of churches that chose not to apply. We are also aware of the reporting in the news regarding inequities in how this government funded program was initially rolled out. Separately from receiving these PPP funds and using them for our payroll needs, FCCW leaders plan to investigate whether other local organizations or churches need help accessing current or future PPP funds, or whether there is some other way of helping and supporting groups that were unable to access the program.We are grateful that our local bank was able to submit our loan application, that we received the funds we were eligible for and that we can protect the livelihoods of our employees – ministers, office administrator, organist, building manager and superintendent, and independent contractors. We hope this grants them some peace of mind.Bruce Lauterwasser,Treasurer
