Stewardship Campaign
October 1, 2011
Dear Royal Lane Family,
Stewardship is woven into the very fabric of our faith. As fundamental as breathing, we live and thrive surrounded by God’s loving abundance. Out of our identity, as God’s own we seek to respond in love to the world around us. As a church, we do not exist for ourselves alone; we are gathered in order to be sent to serve.
This year the congregation will participate in a stewardship campaign that is designed with a difference. What is the difference? Instead of requesting you to only consider your financial commitment to the church; we are going to ask you to reflect about your part in this congregation’s particular and unique contribution to God’s world, based on the biblical image of Jesus as one who gives us life and brings freedom and wholeness.
This is why we exist as a church. Jesus calls us to follow and serve as he served. We need to fund this calling with money and energy so that our community can reflect this image of wholeness and joy. This stewardship campaign is designed to make a difference in our community.
Story after story about Jesus shows us how he brought new life to all manner of hopeless situations – disease, hunger, injustice, even death. As followers of Jesus we are called to bring new life where we can. Our church reaches out to the community through the Mission Trip, The Gathering, Pumpkin Patch, Bastrop Wildfire Relief, etc. The question we need to answer together is, “How can we do more of these essential and faithful things?”
Now it is time for us to think and pray about how we will financially support our work together around these priorities. What calls to you as an individual? How, as an individual, are you connected to a larger community – the church? How will you interweave your individual priorities with these priorities?
We are going to leave these questions with you and ask you to begin to think about what you can personally afford to give in order to see these priorities though. In the upcoming weeks, you will get more information and opportunities to reflection about making a difference. We will conclude our campaign on Consecration Sunday, October 23rd, with a luncheon in Fellowship Hall.
May God be with us during this time of discernment, bringing hope, joy and a sense of faithful anticipation.
Sincerely,
Derick and Wendy Miller
Stewardship Committee Co-Chairs