Expense sheet

Please note that no donations are going to compensation. 100% of amounts donated by other than Tom Usher are going into the Land and Building Fund of the Christian Commons Project. It is anticipated that such will remain the case until there are sufficient funds in the Land and Building Fund to lease (temporarily) or to purchase land and until and until Church administration is a full-time occupation for the executive director and any staff. The following figures have barely changed; hence there has been no reasonable requirement for updates. If anything changes appreciably, we will endeavor to update the figures in a timely manner.

Tom Usher is working in addition to writing and operating the website. All of his earnings over and above basic living expenses (below) are being used to cover Church overhead (Internet, operating expenses, etc.) and then the balance is going into the said fund.

Living expenses, housing allowance, and Internet costs (does not include alms)

12 month period
Quarterly subtotals
Last updated: October 2006
US Dollars

Spreadsheets, charts, and graphs to expect

Eventually, ministers' personal expenses will be reflected as a single-line item as salary or wages based upon expense reports for the given period. Church expenses, rather than personal itemized expenses, will then be reflected in the financial statements shown on the website. Concerning communes and missions, the Church will also endeavor to place acquisition-, development-, and line-and-staff-cost estimates on our website.

As you may readily see from the spreadsheet immediately above, we have been living frugally during the pre-start-up phase.

From pre-start-up to start-up

The pre-start-up phase covered by the spreadsheet was consumed by writing the work, There Is No Such Thing as a Conservative-Republican Christian: Jesus is a small-c communist and Supplement. The start-up phase actually began with work on this website.

Naturally, as the Church moves deeper into start-up and begins to grow, expenses will increase in certain categories. We won't update the information though until there is a substantive change.

Audit notes

We'll address the categories in the order in which they appear on the Expense Sheet.

Our fuel use has been very light. We've been walking to the store, which is good for us and for the environment in general. However, Church business will require more time on the road.

Depending upon the type of work being done, spending on groceries can easily increase. Visitors will pick up. It's always correct to be able to offer something.

Our current housing is the most affordable in this market. We will remain flexible. Renting a house so that part of it may serve as Church office space may prove most economical for the next move up. It would save on commuting and would allow us to work better at odd hours without having to duplicate the equipment for a home office.

As we quoted the IRS in There Is No Such Thing as a Conservative-Republican Christian: Jesus is a small-c communist:

A minister's housing allowance, sometimes called a parsonage allowance or a rental allowance, is excludable from gross income for income tax purposes, but not for self-employment tax purposes.¹

The Church will have to weigh these matters.

Travel may increase if the cost-benefit makes sense.

Long-distance telephone likely would increase. We'll be looking into a flat-rate service before long-distance expenditures skyrocket.

The category "Telephone, Internet, ISP" doesn't cover web-hosting fees, which we hadn't yet incurred at the time the Expense Sheet was generated.

Our electric rates are the lowest of any big city in the US and very green. Hopefully the rate won't increase too quickly. We don't have air-conditioning. There are only a few days per summer here when it gets that hot and humid.

You don't see clothing or any household furnishings on the Expense Sheet. We will need a few things in each of those categories if we're to carry on. You also don't see barber expenses. We've been taking care of that our self; however, time constraints in operating a thriving denomination may require shop visits.

We have no medical, dental, or vision coverage.

Lastly, there is the matter of taxes. A peculiarity of the US tax system is that "ministers" are self-employed. This is to avoid directly taxing the church. The minister pays his or her own Social Security and Medicare taxes if the church does not elect to pay them. The exact percentage to add to the expenses list to cover anticipated Income Taxes (including FICA) is not known at this point. The Church isn't required to do withholding on clergy. Also, estimated taxes aren't required the first year of such self-employment.

We'll add twenty percent to the Expense Sheet Total of $9,278 to cover Federal and State taxes and another ten percent as a cushion for increased expenses and inflation. That brings the monthly expense rate to approximately one thousand dollars.

Reaching initial start-up break-even

You may also readily see that it isn't going to take much to allow us to work on the Church fulltime, as it deserves. A thousand dollars a month can be covered by a hand full of dedicated Real Christians who want to see the Church communes come to fruition.

According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics,² we find that as of August 2006, the median and mean income respectively for those earners in the US who are fifteen and older is $24,325 and $35,499. Using the lower figure to be conservative, staying with no more than tithing, rounded to the nearest thousand, we find the following:

We see that five people earning the median US income and tithing to the Church would cover the initial start-up expenses. Ten people giving half a tithe would cover those costs. Fifty people giving only one dollar to the Church out of each one hundred dollars they earn would cover the expenses. Of course, to grow into an office with staff and then communal property under cultivation and bringing forth for the sake of humanity and the planet will require the contributions of many thousands of people at this income level. Just one person grossing 1.2 million USD a year can cover our initial break-even with as little as one percent of his or her income — one dollar of every hundred. If a person such as that, or several, were to tithe, we'd have a thriving commune in no time with others on the way. There are people in the world earning a great deal more than that each year, as we are all well aware.

The following represents the typical number and size of donations we will need to reach bare bones break-even for the initial start-up phase.

During the research, writing, planning, and website development, capital reserves went down steadily and are exhausted as of June, 2007. Of course, it has been for the most worthy of all causes. In fact, for the only worthy cause: Love. God is love.

Being moved to make the sacrifice

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Mark 10:25

Open your heart. Save your soul by saving others who will save yet others.

Our Real Liberal Christian Church can make a solid start now with your personal self-sacrifice and continuing dedication.

Join Us.

Donate to this most worthy of causes (Jesus's cause).

Tithe or better if you are able, if the Holy Spirit gives you to do it, moves your heart to have the real faith to do it. Let us together bring forth the Christian Commons.
Please click the button right now, and be as generous as you can. Thank you, and may God bless us all.

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¹ "Frequently Asked Tax Questions And Answers: Keyword: Housing Allowance." IRS. http://www.irs.gov/faqs/faq-kw86.html. (accessed: Wednesday, October 25, 2006).

² "PINC-01. Selected Characteristics of People 15 Years and Over by Total Money Income in 2005, Work Experience in 2005, Race, Hispanic Origin, and Sex." A spreadsheet. U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2006 Annual Social and Economic Supplement. U.S. Census Bureau. http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032006/pe rinc/new01_001.htm (accessed: Wednesday, October 25, 2006).