In August it was the lights. In September it was insurance. Last month it was the mortgage, the biggest number we have shared so far.

This month’s number is smaller, but you see its work every time you walk through the doors.

How much does it cost to keep Epiphany clean for one month?

  • A About $2,400
  • B About $3,700
  • C About $4,800
  • D About $6,200
Click to reveal the answer

The answer is A.

Our custodial care runs $2,405 a month.

That works out to about $79 every day, or roughly $555 every Sunday, or just under $28,900 a year.

Here is what that number actually takes care of. It is the sanctuary, ready and clean before the first hymn on Sunday morning. It is the classrooms, wiped down and set back in order at the end of every school day. It is the restrooms, the hallways, the kitchen after a potluck, the fellowship hall after a funeral luncheon, and the trash cans that somehow fill themselves all week long.

Most of this work happens when nobody is around to see it. The building is quiet, the lights are low, and someone is making sure that tomorrow’s students, worshipers, and first-time guests walk into a place that says “you are welcome here.”

Here is what that number actually takes care of. It is the sanctuary, ready and clean before the first hymn on Sunday morning. It is the classrooms, wiped down and set back in order at the end of every school day. It is the restrooms, the hallways, the kitchen after a potluck, the community room after a funeral luncheon, and the trash cans that somehow fill themselves all week long.

Most of this work happens when nobody is around to see it, in the dead of night. The building is quiet, the lights are low, and someone is making sure that tomorrow’s students, worshipers, and first-time guests walk into a place that says “you are welcome here.”

Jesus once told a story about a man whose fields produced so much that he tore down his barns to build bigger ones, just to hold it all. Right before that story, He gave this warning:

“Watch out! Be on your guard against all greed. A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
Luke 12:15

Our building is a gift, but it was never meant to be a barn. We do not keep it clean so it can sit pretty. We keep it clean because of the life that happens inside it: children learning, families worshiping, neighbors being welcomed. Caring for what God has given is the opposite of hoarding it.

If you have ever wondered whether a smaller gift makes a difference: $25 covers about seven and a half hours of custodial care. $100 covers more than a full day. About $80 carries the whole day.

A number like this one is only ever half the story. We share it so you can see your gifts at work, even in the quiet hours after everyone has gone home. But the reason we give was never the number.

Thank you for giving cheerfully. We’ll take a break for the Christmas season and put another number in front of you in January.

The Board of Stewardship