Faithful In Every Season
Summer has a different rhythm, doesn’t it?
The days stretch longer. Calendars shift. People travel, family comes to town, kids head to camp, gardens need tending, trails start calling, and many of us find ourselves moving at a pace that is both full and scattered. I love that about summer. There is something holy about the way this season invites us outside, into rest, into beauty, into family, into creation, and sometimes into a little more breathing room.
And yet, while our personal rhythms often change in the summer, the life and ministry of the church continues.
Worship continues. Pastoral care continues. Staff continue to serve. The building continues to welcome people. Utilities, insurance, supplies, music licensing, repairs, mission commitments, children’s ministry, youth ministry, campus ministry, care ministry, and the everyday work of being a church in the heart of Bozeman all continue.
That is why summer is a good time for us to remember that our life together is not sustained by one season of generosity, one month of participation, or one kind of giving. It is sustained by the steady faithfulness of a community. It is sustained as we continue to offer our prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness throughout the whole year.
Those words may sound familiar. They are part of the vows we make as members of the church. And I have always loved that our commitment is not just financial. It is whole-life language.
We give our prayers when we hold one another before God, when we pray for our church, our staff, our leaders, our children, our neighbors, and our world.
We give our presence when we show up, whether in worship, in a small group, at a mission opportunity, around a table, beside someone who is grieving, or online when we are traveling or unable to be in the building.
We give our gifts when we share from what we have been given, including our financial resources, our skills, our creativity, our time, our wisdom, and our care.
We give our service when we step into the practical work of love: setting up chairs, serving meals, teaching children, singing in the choir, caring for the building, showing up for justice, visiting someone who is lonely, or saying yes when something needs to be done.
We give our witness when the way we live tells the story of God’s love. We witness when we practice kindness, welcome, mercy, courage, and hope in a world that deeply needs all of those things.
All of this matters. All of it is stewardship. All of it is part of what it means to be the church together.
At the same time, I want to be honest and clear about the financial side of our shared life, because that matters too.
BUMC is a generous church, and I am deeply grateful for that. Your giving makes ministry possible. It helps us worship with beauty and depth. It supports children, youth, families, college students, older adults, and people seeking community. It helps us care for one another in seasons of joy and sorrow. It allows us to maintain a building that serves not only our congregation, but the wider community. It helps us support mission and justice work here in Bozeman, across Montana, and around the world.
For 2026, our budget names the real cost of doing ministry together. It includes staff, building expenses, utilities, insurance, repairs, worship, music, children and youth ministries, campus ministry, congregational care, mission outreach, and our connectional giving through the Mountain Sky Conference. In other words, the budget is not just numbers on a page. It is the practical side of our shared ministry.
Through April of 2026, our giving has been very close to what we estimated. We received $118,689 in total giving through the first four months of the year, just $770 behind what we had budgeted for that same period. That is a sign of faithfulness, and it matters.
When we include all sources of income, including giving, Annex income, investment income, and other income, BUMC received $170,896 through April. That is slightly ahead of previous averages for this point in the year. At the same time, our expenses through April were $204,878, also a little above previous averages. That leaves us with a year-to-date deficit of $33,982 through April.
I share that not as a panic number, but as a clear and honest picture of the rhythm of church finances. In many years, the first part of the year and the summer months tend to be leaner. Expenses continue steadily, even when giving rises and falls from month to month. The good news is that this year’s deficit is very close to where we have historically been by the end of April. The invitation is not fear. The invitation is consistency.
The church does not run on good intentions alone. It takes real resources to be the kind of church we hope to be and the kind of church many of us have come to expect: a church with meaningful worship, thoughtful preaching, good music, pastoral care, children and youth ministries, community partnerships, mission outreach, safe and welcoming spaces, livestream and digital connection, and staff who are equipped to lead and serve well.
None of that happens by accident.
Behind every Sunday morning, every gathering, every pastoral visit, every email, every painted room and cleaned carpet, every cup of coffee, every candle lit, every child welcomed, every song sung, every mission gift sent, and every person who finds a place of belonging here, there is a shared commitment that makes it possible.
That is why consistent giving is such a gift to the church. Not because the church is simply trying to meet a budget, but because consistent giving helps us plan faithfully, respond wisely, and keep ministry moving even in leaner months.
Summer is often one of those leaner seasons. That is true for many churches. Attendance patterns change. Giving patterns shift. People are in and out. And that is wonderful. Summer should have a different rhythm. But ministry does not pause just because our schedules change.
So this summer, I want to invite you to consider what steady faithfulness might look like for you.
Maybe it means praying regularly for BUMC, our staff, our leaders, and the people who will walk through our doors this summer. Maybe it means showing up when you are in town and joining online when you are away. Maybe it means volunteering for something simple and practical. Maybe it means inviting someone to worship, checking in on someone you have not seen in a while, or being a visible sign of love in your neighborhood. Maybe it means setting up recurring giving so your financial gifts continue even when you are traveling. Maybe it means catching up on a pledge before heading out for vacation. Maybe it means making a special summer gift.
There are many ways to give. And when we each bring what we can, the whole church is strengthened.
I do not want us to talk about giving from a place of fear or scarcity. That is not who we are. I want us to talk about giving from a place of gratitude and shared purpose. I want us to remember that we are part of something meaningful here. Something rooted. Something generous. Something open and ongoing. Something that takes all of us.
BUMC has been serving this community for generations, and by God’s grace, we are still here: doing good, seeking God, and building community. The invitation before us is to keep living into that calling together, not only when the sanctuary is full, not only in the busy seasons, not only at the end of the year, but through every season.
Thank you for the ways you already give. Thank you for the prayers you pray, the presence you offer, the gifts you share, the service you give, and the witness you carry into the world.
Together, we are helping make the love of God visible.
And that is holy work.
Do Good…
Pastor Zach