2023 Stewardship Campaign
Doing Good in the Midst of Change: 2022 brought many changes to our world and to our church, including your generosity which has increased substantially. In 48 years of ministry, I have never seen the level and depth of giving as I have at this church. Thank you. While there are many challenges in our world, you have been a reminder of God’s hope, presence, and love. We are seeking to live as John Wesley called Christians, to “do all the good we can.”
New Challenges Brought Innovation and Faithful Response: There have been many changes and challenges this year, but our hope is not found in the variances of life but in the unchanging nature of God. God had led us to develop what we would need to respond with strength and faith through the ministry of our church and our members. Something profoundly good and amazing is happening at our church.
Never before has our missional response been as visible and deep. We have collected and shared record amounts of food, and we have gone the extra mile in supporting the dozens of mission and ministry partners we support locally, across the United States, and globally. We have seen our online ministry grow in astounding ways. Our youth and children’s ministry is experiencing rapid and healthy growth. Our online worship congregation is now global. Classes and small groups are now more numerous. Our Sunday morning worship is growing, and we still have hundreds who worship with us online.
If this sounds different, it is. But being able to adjust and flex with the challenges we face is possible because of the faithful giving by our congregation, by wonderful people like yourself. Our legacy is being shaped by how we respond to a profoundly challenging reality. Thank you for your part in a faithful response which has undergirded this ministry. Now the 2023 budget is before us.
The 2023 Budget Represents Prayer and Careful Planning: The leaders of your church began praying and preparing the 2023 church budget for ministry and mission in June of 2023. We began with the Outreach Funding (missions) budget, which was finalized in September of this year, then we began working on the other portions of our budget. The last portion of our budget, staff salaries, and benefits, will be set after the 2023 Church Budget is finalized in January 2023, when the Church Council approves a balanced budget for the year. To do that, we need your pledge, as every gift and every pledge matters! When you return your pledge card, it gives us a picture of what you intend to give in 2023. All returned pledge cards, combined with other sources of giving, give us a good estimate of the income for 2023.
What Do You Need To Do? Click the buttons below for a summary of the Proposed 2023 Budget and a digital pledge form. Take time to PRAY and STUDY the budget. Call us if you have any questions and RESPOND. The most effective and helpful way you can respond is by completing the pledge form. Please submit your pledge card by Sunday, November 20.
Thank you. Much prayer, careful planning, and work has gone into the proposed 2023 budget. The final budget will be set by our Church Council in January 2023. Thank you for your trust, for your gifts, and for your prayers. Join me in praying for peace in our world and for the witness to God’s love which we are called to live and share.
Peace and Grace,
Rev. W. David McEntire