Lord, Direct Our Paths…Dear Members and Friends of St. Andrew’s, This is an exciting time as God has blessed us with the leadership of Pastor Jim Toole. He has stated the desire for us as a church to be a bonfire to our local and worldwide communities, where we show the love of Christ with our vibrancy. On September 17, we gathered together in our cluster meetings to dream and discern the path and future of our church. It is evident that God is at work. Now is a good time to ask the Lord to direct our decisions on allocating the financial gifts He has given us to expand His Kingdom through stewardship pledges for 2010. Please consider the information below regarding the needs at St. Andrew’s. The people of St. Andrew’s are very generous in the giving of their time, talent, and treasures. We need to acknowledge and celebrate this generosity and all that we have been able to accomplish. St. Andrew’s has been blessed for many years with charitable people who have made prayerful decisions to make the church a benefactor in their wills, gifts known as “bequests.” Our operating expenses for the last few years have required that we use funding from undesignated bequests. Trustees and others have expressed concerns about this dependence on bequests as a revenue source for our operating budget. We would prefer to consider the possibilities of using it for outreach, new ministries, scholarships, and major facility upgrades. The following chart is a snapshot of our current budgeted revenues. Please note that 65% ($1,075,000) of annual revenue comes from pledges, 14% ($235,000) is from non-pledge offerings, 6% ($106,500) is from preschool/bldg/other, and that 15% ($244,213) is from bequests. Our goal next year is to begin shrinking this bequest gap by increasing pledge giving. We at St. Andrew’s have an opportunity to share our hearts with other people and what it means to live in Christ and His abundant love. We want people to desire what we have in our hearts; to come alongside them and show them what a life in Christ means. We’re excited and hope you are too. In the next few weeks you will receive your pledge card. Please ask God to direct your decision about how much of your own money He wants you to allocate to St. Andrew’s for next year. If you have never made a pledge before, please seriously consider making that commitment to St. Andrew’s. If you currently don’t tithe, please be open to considering that as well. We’re on an exciting journey, so let’s be sure to ask the Lord to direct our individual paths and our paths as a church. If you have any questions, please our Business Manager, Harry Tuck, at the church office, 297-7201. May God Bless You, Marianne Hadden, Stewardship Chair
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