Dear Parish Family,
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This annual letter to you about our Ministry of Annual Giving comes this year with my happy, hopeful, and thankful heart about the state of this ministry at Christ Church: this year we’ve received the highest number of pledges we’ve ever had, and the largest total of pledged giving we’ve ever been promised. Not only that, but as of this writing, both our pledged and non-pledged income is up to date, year to date (which is not always the case)! Before going further, let me stop and on behalf of all, say a great big thank you to you all!!!
And since this ministry is voluntary, the greater good news is that this giving must surely be understood as a tangible sign of something deeper and often intangible: many are experiencing God’s presence, ministry and blessing by being a part of this congregation’s life and ministry. Before going further, let me stop and on behalf of all, say a great big word of thanks to God in Christ, who blesses us so!!!
From this happy, hopeful, and thankful place, these are some of the things to keep especially in mind as you prayerfully consider the enclosed Pledge Card –
And, it is important to reiterate this promise: we run a tight ship, and will always be transparent. In 2014, when at one point our income was behind, we instituted a 3 month spending freeze (we continued to pay salaries and the light bill, but no programming). Disciplines such as this reflect our commitment to be good stewards of your giving. Many eyes tend our budget – staff, treasurer, finance committee, and vestry – and you can, too: our transparency means you can see and ask about the financials at any time.
Here’s more good news: the answers to the question “what good things do we get for our giving” are so numerous, it is a practical impossibility to list them in a letter like this! If I mentioned the Praise Band, I’d have to mention the Choir; if I spoke of the number of youth being engaged, I’d be remiss to leave out how strong the children’s ministry is; if I lauded the difference the Women’s and the Disciple Bible studies are making, I’d need to add how other Discipleship ministries like Cursillo or Young Adults are growing and blessing those involved; our pastoral care is active on about 5 fronts…but then, too, the Finance Committee…and the Buildings and Grounds committee are also as strong as I’ve seen them in years. You see my point.
Wonderfully, our continuing challenges are a shorter list. Shorter, but serious. But if pledged and up to date giving from approximately 2/3 of our households puts us in as good a place as I have described, think how well we could meet our challenges with a sure pledge from every household. It is within our grasp to work down our debt to free money to go to adequately supporting our current staff; to call needed new staff for our growing ministry needs; to replace our long past due office space; to support the larger Church by meeting our diocesan asking; to move forever past the need to use reserved funds to balance our budgets.
And so this is the invitation:
If you’ve not pledged – please pledge.
If you’ve pledged, but not with generosity – please pledge with generosity.
If you’ve pledged with generosity – please stay the course!
Everyone – take a step in faith!
Here’s our norm: every household, every year, makes a new written pledge of their commitment to the Ministry of Annual Giving as an offering on Commitment Sunday (November 1, 2015); and fulfills this pledge consistently throughout the year, as our expenses occur throughout the year.
Come and see! We are working to make Christ Church a great Parish church, because we believe that God intends us to be a church where many lives are transformed for Jesus Christ.
Faithfully,
The Rev. Ted W. Duvall
Rector
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This annual letter to you about our Ministry of Annual Giving comes this year with my happy, hopeful, and thankful heart about the state of this ministry at Christ Church: this year we’ve received the highest number of pledges we’ve ever had, and the largest total of pledged giving we’ve ever been promised. Not only that, but as of this writing, both our pledged and non-pledged income is up to date, year to date (which is not always the case)! Before going further, let me stop and on behalf of all, say a great big thank you to you all!!!
And since this ministry is voluntary, the greater good news is that this giving must surely be understood as a tangible sign of something deeper and often intangible: many are experiencing God’s presence, ministry and blessing by being a part of this congregation’s life and ministry. Before going further, let me stop and on behalf of all, say a great big word of thanks to God in Christ, who blesses us so!!!
From this happy, hopeful, and thankful place, these are some of the things to keep especially in mind as you prayerfully consider the enclosed Pledge Card –
- Everything is from God – let us use what we have in ways that please Him.
- Christians who practice it say that generosity brings joy and greater communion with God and His people.
- Church giving supports the one place whose only purpose is the Gospel.
And, it is important to reiterate this promise: we run a tight ship, and will always be transparent. In 2014, when at one point our income was behind, we instituted a 3 month spending freeze (we continued to pay salaries and the light bill, but no programming). Disciplines such as this reflect our commitment to be good stewards of your giving. Many eyes tend our budget – staff, treasurer, finance committee, and vestry – and you can, too: our transparency means you can see and ask about the financials at any time.
Here’s more good news: the answers to the question “what good things do we get for our giving” are so numerous, it is a practical impossibility to list them in a letter like this! If I mentioned the Praise Band, I’d have to mention the Choir; if I spoke of the number of youth being engaged, I’d be remiss to leave out how strong the children’s ministry is; if I lauded the difference the Women’s and the Disciple Bible studies are making, I’d need to add how other Discipleship ministries like Cursillo or Young Adults are growing and blessing those involved; our pastoral care is active on about 5 fronts…but then, too, the Finance Committee…and the Buildings and Grounds committee are also as strong as I’ve seen them in years. You see my point.
Wonderfully, our continuing challenges are a shorter list. Shorter, but serious. But if pledged and up to date giving from approximately 2/3 of our households puts us in as good a place as I have described, think how well we could meet our challenges with a sure pledge from every household. It is within our grasp to work down our debt to free money to go to adequately supporting our current staff; to call needed new staff for our growing ministry needs; to replace our long past due office space; to support the larger Church by meeting our diocesan asking; to move forever past the need to use reserved funds to balance our budgets.
And so this is the invitation:
If you’ve not pledged – please pledge.
If you’ve pledged, but not with generosity – please pledge with generosity.
If you’ve pledged with generosity – please stay the course!
Everyone – take a step in faith!
Here’s our norm: every household, every year, makes a new written pledge of their commitment to the Ministry of Annual Giving as an offering on Commitment Sunday (November 1, 2015); and fulfills this pledge consistently throughout the year, as our expenses occur throughout the year.
Come and see! We are working to make Christ Church a great Parish church, because we believe that God intends us to be a church where many lives are transformed for Jesus Christ.
Faithfully,
The Rev. Ted W. Duvall
Rector