Monthly Financial Update

August 2025

God is awesome and wonderful, and we get to experience His grace and love every week at Riverside! 

The series, The Space In-Between ended August 31st. Thank you to Pastors Nate and Tony for their ministry in August.  We saw people say 'YES!' to Jesus during August, as well.  Praise God for His wonderful grace!  

September means Fall KickOff (7th), and the start of our All Church Spiritual Journey based on the book, The Benefit of Doubt: How Confronting Your Deepest Questions Can Lead to a Richer Faith. It is an easy book to read, but also a very challenging book because of its content.  After the service concludes on the 7th (and also the 14th), you will want to to grab your book and go to GroupLink so we can help you get into a small group.  As part of this journey, the messages on Sunday will focus on people in the Scriptures who struggled with doubts, and encourage us because that didn't stop God from working in their lives in often remarkable ways.

Thank you for being outward-focused as a church.  I cannot emphasize enough how this makes such a difference in the life and health of any local church to keep the passion and priority of Jesus THE first priority of how it functions and ministers. So invite someone to “Come and Sit with Me” this month!

Our digital connections help people engage each week as well; as a reminder, if you and/or members of your household are traveling or not feeling well on a Sunday you can stay connected online, too! You can stream the services Sunday morning, or visit our message series page to watch anytime at your convenience.

We praise the Lord for everyone of you who give to the ministry of Riverside, and our financial position is still okay.  Your giving makes a difference in real people’s lives here and around the world every week. Giving in August, the 2nd month of our fiscal year, was overall a bit stronger than July.  We are praying for growth in this area as we come into our fall ministry season.

As a reminder our new fiscal year began July 1st. We simply want to be able to meet our approved budget of $5,596,505(which is the same as last year for our Fuel for Ministry Fund, but we have added back into our budget the $1 million we have included for many years to help prepare us for the next new campus God will open a door for us to pursue) so we can move forward with all the ministries God wants to use in us and through us in the next 12 months.

Please ask the Lord what He wants you to do when it comes to your engagement in giving, and let God challenge your hearts.  Pray for everyone who considers Riverside Church their spiritual home to practice the grace of giving, that generosity will simply be a “normal” response for our church (no matter what the economy is like) so we can reach more people for Jesus. 

Digital giving makes such a huge difference in so many people’s lives here, and it is the main way people give.  It is a great tool that helps people develop the consistent practice of the grace of giving and putting God first in their finances.  On average, 73% of all our giving happens digitally, and we have more households making reoccurring digitals gifts than ever before! Join many others at Riverside who are discovering how this makes such a difference in their spiritual journey.  You can always give it a try following the directions HERE.  We also have the ability through our partnership with Orchard Alliance to help you organize a will, and/or learn how to give stock gifts, property, or other appreciated assets and special gifts.

Both the opportunities and obstacles we face are very real in these challenging days as we navigate our lives and ministries in a deeply divided and confused world.  This is true for any of God’s churches seeking to partner with Him in making a Kingdom impact. Keep praying that God will clearly lead, empower and care for us in all areas of ministry moving forward.

God is at work in and through Riverside, touching the lives of thousands of people every week in significant ways. Your gifts help make that happen, both now and for eternity.

God bless you all!

Pastor Tom

Weekly Averages for August 2025:

  • Average In-person Sunday Attendance: 1,587
  • Average Online attendance: 445
  • Fuel for Ministry Fund: $81,017
      Our approved Big Lake/Sauk Rapids/Buffalo/Central weekly budget is $88,394
  • Fuel for Global Ministries Fund: $6,384