A Stewardship Moment

This week we sent out our first Stewardship letter. Every fall we begin planning for the coming year and to do that we need your help. We ask every member and friend to guestimate how much they are able to contribute to the ongoing expenses of the ministry. This is called making a pledge.

The pledges are non binding in the fact that if your circumstances change, no one is going to come after you. But it is a promise that you will try to put aside a certain amount each week and give it to God to use through the church.

Everything that happens at church is a direct result of your response to this campaign. We depend 100 % on the members and friends of the church. There are no special grants or funds to pay for programs or to help with operating expenses. With your pledges, we can open the doors of the church, put the lights on and turn up the heat. We call a pastor, hire an organist, a secretary and a custodian. We provide Sunday School and youth group activities for the kids. We do outreach ministry through our sports programs and engage in all kinds of activities outside the church like our short term mission trip to Mexico and the Interfaith luncheons.

You make ministry happen. so that's why we ask you every year to reconsider and renew your pledge. If you have never pledged before, we hope you will consider do this year. Your gifts will be a blessing. The fact that we know we can count on you will insure that all of our ministries keep on going.

So when you get your pledge card, think about the ways in which God has blessed you and then make a decision to return that blessing and give something back to your church. Our theme this year in Unearthing Your Treasure - Growing Our Ministries at First Baptist Church. It is based upon the parable of the talents. God has given us all gifts. We are told to use them to build up his kingdom. Praise God we are doing that together at our church.

Cal