When is a budget not about money? When it becomes about the people who have to live within its limits. Last month the vestry approved the 2025 operating budget for the Cathedral, but it came with a cost. The Budget Committee spent several months working with all categories of the budget: revenues and expenses, salaries, outreach, ministry requests, etc. What became clear very early on was that expenses were outweighing revenue, and we needed to make some tough decisions. I am grateful for the work of the Budget Committee and for the hard, but necessary, conversations we had. In the end we had a balanced budget but, again, at a cost. In order to balance we had to reduce budget requests by 10% across the board and make some personnel cuts. That part is never easy. This week I had the unfortunate duty to say goodbye to two members of the Cathedral staff and let them go. My heartfelt thanks go to Melissa Kilpatrick and Mike Guidry for their years of service to the Cathedral. You will learn more about the 2025 operating budget when we present it at our Annual Meeting on January 26.

Speaking of the Annual Meeting, we will also elect four new members to the vestry as we thank our outgoing members for their time and service: Valerie Johnson, Michael Thomas, Paula Livingston-Lewis, and Pat Decker. In addition to the budget presentation, you will also hear a report from our Senior Warden, Steve Moore, and the Dean’s report from me. Remember, we will only have one service that day at 10:30 am followed by the meeting. The current vestry and newly elected members will meet briefly following the meeting. As always, we will be done in plenty of time to watch championship football that afternoon.

The snow may still be around from last week’s storm, but we will still gather this evening for our Winter Chili and Game Night at 6 p.m. in Haden Hall. Bring your favorite chili, side, or dessert and a favorite game. Whether you signed up or not, please come and join your Cathedral family for an evening of literal fun and games! I’ll see you there.

Please continue to pray for one another, for our Cathedral family, for all those displaced and affected by the fires in Los Angeles, for our nation, and the world.

For posts not listed here, visit our From the Dean Archive page.