2025 Annual Report
It was a year of experiencing God together—in services, in small groups, in families, and in life.
Executive Summary
This year’s report reflects both the health of our ministries — growing participation, generous community support, and emerging leaders — and the financial reality of lower revenue and higher operating costs, underscoring the need for sustainable stewardship going forward.
Table of Contents
2025: Where We’ve Been
Highlights from 2025
Attendances
Sunday Snapshot
Current Church Leadership
2025 Goal Scorecard
2026: Where We're Going
Goals for 2026
Financial Updates
Strengths & Growth Areas
Balance Sheet
Revenue Sources
Giving Snapshot
Monthly Revenue
Salaries
Expense Breakdown
Statement of Activity
2026 Budget
2025: Where We've Been
10 Highlights from 2025
RiverLife maintained strong attendance across both campuses, remaining near record levels throughout the year.
Twenty people got baptized—13 at St. Paul and 7 at BP.
We launched a new set of church values to pair with our new mission statement from 2024.
We repaired extensive water damage to the (former) youth room from a broken pipe during winter. We also finalized the St. Paul roof and siding repairs that we started in 2024.
Our leadership team grew with new minsitry leaders in Worship (STP), Connections (STP & BP), and Community Engagement (STP & BP).
Our congregations generously gave $25,000 to support Thrive Youth going to the HLUB Conference—another incredible show of support for the next generation.
Once again, our Easter Egg Hunts were a huge success, drawing 2,500 community members for an afternoon of family fun.
Pastor Tommy rested during a 2-month sabbatical in the Fall, and Pastor Jeremy enjoyed being a father to his new baby Elijah with an extended paternity leave and a new hybrid work schedule.
Our new Family Ministry, led by Pang Moua, launched in the Fall with a parenting workshop and a scholarship talk.
Saving money on our repair projects provided the critical revenue needed to financially survive this year.
2025 Attendances
Summary: Across both campuses, RiverLife has transitioned from a season of rapid post-COVID growth into a season of stability, with attendance holding steady while continuing its long-term upward trajectory.
St. Paul continues to demonstrate steady, sustainable growth with lower weekly fluctuations. St. Paul has averaged approx. 15% annual growth over the past three years.
St. Paul experienced a deeper-than-average summer attendance dip, followed by a strong recovery in the fall and at year’s end, finishing 2025 near its annual average.
BP attendance has shown consistent long-term growth since 2022, with the average Sunday now nearly double what it was three years ago. BP has averaged approx. 20% annual growth over the past three years.
While this appears like decline, it’s actually normalization. BP has begun to stabilize in 2025, indicating a transition from rapid expansion to a maturing, sustainable congregation.
Following the disruption of the pandemic, RiverLife experienced a strong recovery and entered a new season of accelerated growth.
Attendance remained stable throughout 2025, indicating strong retention following several years of growth.
Sunday Snapshot
Here’s what an average Sunday service looked like at RiverLife in 2025.
St. Paul Campus: 109 Adults, 27 Youth, 34 Kids. Total: 171 (up 5% from 2024)
Brooklyn Park Campus: 64 Adults, 22 Youth, 38 Kids. Total: 124 (up 3% from 2024)
Online Livestream: 24 (up 38% from 2024)
Combined Total: 321 (up 7% from 2024)
2025 Church Leadership
St. Paul Campus
Lead Pastor: Greg Rhodes
Youth Pastor: Tommy Lor
Kids Pastor: Jeremy Garland
Worship Directors: Raynie Vang & Kenny Lee
Spiritual Growth Director: Pang Foua Rhodes
Connections Director: Shoua (Hills) Khang
Brooklyn Park Campus
Campus Pastor: Kong Moua
Youth Pastor: Tim Thao
Worship Director: Johan Yang
Family Ministry Director: Pang Moua
Connections Director: Max Baranayuk
Community Engagement Director: Angeline Xiong
2025 Goal Scorecard
Expand the capacity of our leadership teams. (9/10)
Accomplished 4 out of 5 of our goals, including raising up new leaders for Connections and Community Engagement, increasing hours for Tim Thao and hiring Pang Moua, and mentoring one intern college student in community engagement.
This was a record year for raising up new leaders, with 4 people added to the Leadership Team.
Refine and flesh out our discipleship strategy. (6/10)
Designed the core of our discipleship strategy—The Big 3 (church attendance, Bible reading, prayer) — and scheduled to launch in January 2026 with a sermon series and additional resources.
Launched new life groups with more planned in early 2026.
Improve our systems to align with our growing size. (2/10)
Launched monthly campus team meetings to pair with the monthly Leadership Team meetings.
Switched our downstairs youth and kids rooms to accommodate our growing youth ministry.
Still have a lot of work to do in this area.
2026: Where We're Going
3 Strategic Goals for 2026
1. Embed The Big 3 as RiverLife’s primary discipleship pathway.
In 2026, The Big 3 (attend weekly, read 4x a week, Pray 4x a week) will become the normal and visible rhythm of discipleship across every ministry of RiverLife.
Key Tasks:
Create resources to help people be successful attending, reading, and praying—such as a Bible reading plan, prayer guides, accountability partners, etc.
Structure part of service around prayer and long-form Bible reading.
Work with Riverkids, Thrive Youth, and Life Groups to integrate The Big 3 practices into their ministries.
Markers of Success:
The Big 3 is mentioned weekly from the stage.
All ministry leaders can articulate how their ministry supports The Big 3.
A growing percentage of the congregation reports consistent engagement in at least two of the three rhythyms.
2. Begin correcting staff compensation toward market fairness.
As we has grown, our salaaries has remained in the bottom 15% of comparable U.S. church positions. In 2026, we will establish a clear, multi-year pathway toward market fairness and take measurable steps forward.
Key Tasks:
Complete a compensation benchmarking study.
Establish a 3–5 year compensation correction plan.
Increase total payroll by 5–7% in 2026.
Prioritize adjustments for the most under-market positions.
Align future compensation growth with attendance and giving growth.
Markers of Success:
A documented compensation philosophy is approved by leadership.
A 3–5 year roadmap exists showing projected movement toward the 40–50% market range.
Total payroll increases by at least 5% in 2026.
3. Build scalable systems to support continued growth.
As RiverLife has transitioned from a small to a medium-sized church (300+ attendance), our systems must evolve to sustain growth, reduce pastoral bottlenecks, and increase organizational clarity.
Key Tasks:
Reduce the number of recurring administrative tasks handled directly by Pastors Greg and Kong.
Automate manual processes (e.g., volunteer scheduling through Planning Center).
Centralize all church documents and workflows within a single cloud-based system (Google Drive).
Clarify roles and decision-making authority to reduce dependency on senior pastors for routine decisions.
Markers of Success:
Pastors Greg and Kong reduce recurring weekly administrative tasks by at least 25%.
Volunteer scheduling is fully transitioned to Planning Center by Fall.
90% of active church documents are stored in a centralized, accessible Google Drive structure.
Staff and key volunteers report improved clarity and efficiency.
By December 2026, RiverLife can grow by 20% without adding new staff.
Financial Update
Strengths from 2025
Strong Participation Growth - Attendance increased about 8% overall, and the number of givers grew ~10%, showing growing engagement across the congregation.
Expanded Giving Base - More households participated in giving, which is a positive indicator of long-term giving health even though total giving dipped.
Stable Median Gift - The median gift remained steady year-over-year, signaling ongoing generosity across the majority of givers.
Voluntary Reductions in Expense Categories - Some categories such as ministries and administrative costs came in below last year, demonstrating cost awareness and stewardship.
Consistent Prioritization of Mission - Despite pressure on the budget, about 62% of expenses were invested directly in ministry and leaders, reflecting alignment with RiverLife’s mission.
Growth Areas from 2025
General Fund Giving Needs Attention
Total giving declined about 4 %, and giving per attendee was down even as attendance grew — a sign that giving patterns need encouragement.
High-Capacity Giving Decreased - Giving among top givers declined (~6%), which disproportionately affected total revenue.
Expense Pressures from Inflation - Facility costs (utilities, insurance, maintenance) were up nearly $15k due to inflation and operational needs, highlighting the need for budgeting with inflation in mind.
Payroll Cost Growth - Staffing costs increased about $9k, which is appropriate in many ways, but also a driver of the operating deficit that may require renewed giving support or budget adjustments.
Better Smoothing of Revenue Volatility - Giving was more volatile in 2025 with larger monthly swings — this suggests intentional strategies might help smooth revenue for operations.
2025 Adjusted Balance Sheet*
*The following numbers exclude the one-time costs and insurance payouts from the roof and basement repair projects, providing a clearer picture of the church’s normal financial operations.
Income: $359,945
Expenses: $396,150
Net: -$36,206 (-9.1%)
Why were we so far behind in 2025? Short answer: Revenue was down while expenses were up.
Revenue: The biggest decreases were from the offering (-$13k) and vaccine clinics (-$6k).
Expenses: Payroll was up $9k and facility expenses were up $15k (utilities, insurance premiums, maintence costs, etc.)
However, with the insurance costs and payouts, our year-end net balance was only -$2,041 (-0.4%). In other words, the insurance payouts provided us critical cash to make up for last year’s revenue shortfall.
2025 Monthly Revenue (with Budget Line)
Giving was more volatile in 2025 than in 2024, with larger swings and consistently lower monthly totals.
Giving Snapshot (2024 / 2025 / Change)
Average Attendance: 297 / 321 / +8%
Total Giving: $334,552 / $321,258 / -4%
Total Givers: 230 / 254 / +10.4%
Total # of Gifts: 2,440 / 2,544 / +4.3%
Giving Per Attendee: $1,126 / $1,001 / -11%
Median Gift: $60 / $60 / 0%
% of Giving to General Fund:
Average Per High-Capacity Giver (top 10%): $8,284 / $7,776 / –6.1%
Bank Balance (as of 12/31/25): $10,140
Analysis: In 2025, RiverLife continued to grow in participation and engagement. Attendance increased 8%, total givers increased 10%, and the number of gifts rose 4%. The median gift remained steady at $60, indicating that everyday generosity across the congregation stayed strong.
Total General Fund giving declined 4%, not because fewer people gave or gave less often, but primarily due to reduced contributions from a small number of high-capacity givers (–6% on average). At the same time, a greater share of giving shifted toward designated funds, such as our HLUB fundraiser.
2025 Adjusted Revenue Categories (2024 / 2025)
Offering: $334,552 (86%) / $321,258 (90%)
Facility Rentals: $10,230 (8%) / $29,684 (8%)
Fundraising: $29,236 (3%) / $3,641 (1%)
Vaccine Clinics: $8,500 (2%) / $1,750 (0.5%)
Misc: $6,138 (2%) / $1,516 (0.4%)
2025 Adjusted Expense Categories (2024 / 2025)
Payroll: $188,535 (49%) / $197,720 (50%)
Facilities: $102,400 (26%) / $118,105 (30%)
Ministries: $53,221 (14%) / $46,704 (12%)
Administrative: $29,267 (8%) / $24,597 (6%)
Other: $13,118 (3%) / $9,026 (2%)
Analysis: While inflation increased the cost of building operations in 2025, RiverLife’s financial priorities remained unchanged. Nearly two-thirds of our expenses (62%) are invested directly in ministry and leaders, while 38% supports the operational infrastructure that makes that ministry possible.
2025 Salaries
Greg Rhodes — Lead Pastor, FT— $54,080/yr
Kong Moua — Campus Pastor, FT — $41,600/yr
Jeremy Garland — Kids Pastor (50%) / Facilities Manager (50%), FT — $35,695/yr
Tommy Lor — Youth Pastor, 25 hrs/wk @ $14.56/hr — $20,000 (includes living in the parsonage)
Tim Thao — Youth Pastor, 15 hrs/wk @ $14.56/hr — $6,984/yr
Johan Yang — Worship Director, 17.5 hrs/wk @ $14.56/hr — $12,230/yr
Kenny Lee — Worship Leader, 5 hrs/week @ $14.56/hr — $3,495/yr
Raynie Vang — Worship Leader, 5 hrs/week @ $14.56/hr — $3,495/yr
Pang Moua - Family Ministry Director, 5 hrs/week @ $14.56/hr — $3,495/yr
TOTAL Full-Time Equivalent: 4.68 FTEs
Analysis: Payroll represented 50% of our total expenses in 2025, a healthy and appropriate investment for a church committed to people-centered ministry. With 4.68 FTE staff serving an average attendance of 321, we are intentionally resourcing leadership, next-generation ministry, and multi-campus support to position RiverLife for continued growth and long-term impact.
Our pastors and ministry leaders serve faithfully, many at compensation levels well below national averages for comparable roles. Their sacrifice and commitment reflect a deep belief in the mission of RiverLife. As God continues to grow our church, one of our future goals will be building financial strength that allows us to care for our staff as faithfully as they care for our congregation—ensuring sustainability, health, and longevity for years to come.
2025 Full Statement of Activity
REVENUE
Tithes/Offering: $321,258
Facility Rental: $29,684
Fundraising: $3,641
Vaccine Clinics: $1,750
Misc. Income: $1,500
Interest Income: $16
Great Commission Fund: $2,097
Insturance Proceeds: $97,202
TOTAL REVENUE: $457,146
EXPENSES
Facilities
- St Paul Campus: $43,608
- Insurance Repairs: $63,037
- BP Campus: $47,489
- Custodial Supplies: $2,950
- Loan Interest: $16,436
- Loan Mortgage: $7,621
Total Facilities: $181,142
Administrative
- Office Supplies: $3,767
- Advertising & Marketing: $0
- Subscription Fees: $4,487
- Accounting/Bookkeeping: $5,415
- Leadership Development: $5,041
- Miscellaneous: $309
- Copier/Copies: $5,324
- Facility Rental Expenses: $231
- Bank Fees: $22
Total Administrative: $24,597
Payroll Expenses: $177,713
Health Insurance: $20,007
Ministries
- Worship: $5,919
- Youth Ministry:$6,522
- Kids Ministry: $5,804
- Family Ministry: $260
- Connections: $15,672
- Online Ministry: $0
- Spiritual Growth: $3,142
- Community Engagement: $3,142
- Special Events: $9,354
Total Ministries: $46,704
Other
- Benevolence: $744
- Service Supplies: $1,602
- Appreciation Gifts: $1,799
- Unbudgeted Expenses: -$292
- District Contribution: $4,343
- Great Commission: $830
TOTAL EXPENSES: $459,188
NET REVENUE: -$2,041
2026 Budget (vs 2025 actual)
REVENUE
Tithes/Offerings: $360,000 ($321,258) - This is a 12% increase. Excluding last year, we’ve averaged 10% annual growth since 2021.
Facility Rental Income: $29,000 ($29,684)
Fundraising: $3,000 ($3,641)
Miscellaneous Income: $1,500 ($1,500)
Interest Income: $25 ($16)
Great Commission Fund: $2,000 ($2,097)
TOTAL REVENUE: $395,525 ($359,945)
EXPENSES
Operations
St Paul Facilities: $44,000 ($43,608)
BP Facilities: $35,000 ($47,489) - Normally, BP is about $10k less than STP. Last year was an anomaly due to a few larger repairs.
Custodial Supplies: $3,000 ($2,950)
Loan Interest: $16,500 ($16,436)
Loan Mortgage: $7,700 ($7,621)
Administrative
Office Supplies: $3,800 ($3,767)
Subscription Fees: $4,500 ($4,487)
Accounting: $5,400 ($5,415)
Leadership Development: $2,500 ($5,041) - We don’t have a large, out-of-state conference to attend this year.
Miscellaneous: $200 ($309)
Copier/Copies: $5,500 ($5,324)
Facility Rental Expenses: $250 ($231)
Bank Fees: $25 ($22)
Payroll Expenses: $202,000 ($177,713) - This includes a 3% cost-of-living adjustment, increasing Pastor Tommy to full-time from 25 hrs/wk, and 5% raises all staff.
Health Insurance: $0 ($20,007) - The church no longer provides Pastor Greg health insurance. (He’s included on his wife’s plan now.)
Ministries
Worship: $6,000 ($5,919)
Youth Ministry: $7,000 ($6,522)
Kids Ministry: $6,000 ($5,804)
Family Ministry: $500 ($260)
Connections: $13,000 ($15,672)
Spiritual Growth: $300 ($30)
Community Engagement: $1,500 ($3,142)
Special Events: $9,000 ($9,354)
Other
Benevolence: $750 ($744)
Service Supplies: $1,500 ($1,602)
Appreciation Gifts: $1,600 ($1,799)
NCD Contribution: $16,000 ($4,343) - Last year, we didn’t give as much as we had wanted due to financial constraints. This year, we intend to give more.
Great Commission: $2,000 ($830)
Total Expenses: $395,525 ($396,150)
Net Balance: $0
