Hallelujah. That may sound either inappropriate for a financial update or overly cliche. But I assure you, there is no other way to properly begin this update. Hallelujah. It’s actually a plural command in Hebrew - everybody Praise the Lord! And again, it’s perfectly fitting.
Our very first giver was prompted by God to give to Grace House before I even asked him to consider it. This first gift was also our largest to date, $100,000. That’s how it all began in the summer of 2024. What a blessing from God.
Reach Church in Kirkland, Washington, where I served as an interim teaching pastor, gave us two large gifts, $7,500 from their church budget, and over $22,000 donated as a surprise, collective gift from church members. There have been many more one-time gifts of all sizes from outsiders and church family members. Hallelujah. These gifts helped us get started, organize incredible Seder and Easter celebrations, and get some simple but critical tools we needed from the beginning.
However grateful we are for those gifts, Jim Purtle, our stalwart volunteer administrator, and I have kept our attention and prayers more focused on “regular” or recurring giving. This is where an even bigger Hallelujah is deserved. To demonstrate the blessing here, let me first describe our regular expenses.
The large buckets of our regular expenses are:
Rental of space at Church Project North County
Our incredible worship team members
Salary for Scot Pollok and insurance for the Pollok family
External supports, fees, subscriptions, and communication services
Diverse expenses related to Sundays, Meals, Marketing, Communication, and Security
Support for pastor/evangelist Gia Bakhtadze in the Republic of Georgia
The only exceptions to this regular list were related to Easter. Our Seder meal was an intentional investment, with the $10 registration cost per person only offsetting a portion of the cost. Rental of space at the Lone Star Convention Center and AV rental were surprisingly low but still above normal costs. It was money very well spent; a huge blessing to many.
I assume (probably safely so) that most church plants do not have the financial blessing we have had from the start. Thus, most developing budgets would likely be much smaller.
But the real story at Grace House has been the regular, sacrificial giving of many. These often small gifts, given in faith, have made the biggest and most amazing impact. For Grace House, our recurring giving over the first four months averaged just over $25,000 per month, which is incredible. The one-time gifts (non-recurring in status) averaged almost $18,000 per month. Thus, over the first four months of 2025, since officially starting Sunday gatherings, our average monthly expenses were $41,497 and our average monthly giving was $42,852. Through your generosity and fatih, we have been able to cover our regular needs and finished with $121,355 in cash as of the end of May. Again, Hallelujah.
Clearly, this is a great financial situation for a church family less than six months old. The next great challenge will be concluding our long search for a space of our own, whether that is a lease or land or something else. I’ll write much more on this soon. A place of our own will present new challenges and opportunities, about which God is not going to be surprised or scarce in His provision. We will follow His lead, at His pace, with His support and guidance. And I promise to be transparent with all the details along the way. We’re in this together.