At the end of each year, the Church gives thanks for your donations and encourages the congregation to consider "Generosity" for the coming year. This is what we have come to call Intent of Support, which is nothing more than an appeal for each person to prayerfully consider how they plan to financially support our Church in 2023. This appeal is necessary to help your leadership to be more effective as the Stewards of Resources to continue furthering the Kingdom of God.
Undoubtedly, most of us would be happy to receive a present from a giver who is motivated by love rather than by a sense of duty or obligation. When it comes to giving, motive matters. And more importantly, motive matters to God. We are taught that "each of us must give as we have made up our mind, not regretfully or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. II Corinthians 9:7
“Intent of Support” is shared in different ways:
In-person, on Sunday, December 11th and 18th, during worship with the Intent of Support Card.
By mailing your Intent of Support Card to the Church: Attention — Faye Thompson
We celebrate this opportunity to commit our time, talents, and treasure to the glory of God and thus begin the season of expectation and generosity with purpose and excitement. Our leadership has created a financial plan which is considerably less than last year.
Our theme for 2023 is "Two or Three Gathering in My Name." (Matthew 18:20), where God promises to be present when two or three are gathered in His Name. The emphasis here is on gathering. We plan for more church-wide activities where we may share and encourage each other. We will also implement a more comprehensive plan for online generosity to help and support the congregation who weekly gathers online. We thank the many of you who have already authorized your financial institution to make regular monthly gifts to the Church.
We plan to emphasize each month on the second Sunday our achievements and challenges to keep us informed of the income and expenses of operating our Church, paying for our missions and ministries, and supporting our fantastic staff.
We will initiate quarterly reports from the Financial Secretary of our Church, Faye Thompson, so all of us can keep up with our support. This is in addition to the final report you receive from her (for IRS and record keeping) AFTER the year closes in January or February.
We will outline other alternatives for supporting the mission and ministry of our Church through gifts of equities, insurance policies, Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from IRAs, and selected ministry support alternatives. (e.g., Christmas Concert, Let's Get Physical, Youth Special Projects, property, etc.)
All in all, while many of us will make our annual commitments, others will offer gifts by understanding through better communication the need to support our ministries & missions financially.
Sincerely,
Bob Hartman Finance Committee Chair
Rev. Mario Bolivar
Pastor & Head of Staff
Dalton Yancey
Generosity Team