I believe God calls us to be generous, generous as individuals and generous as a church. One of the ways that we are generous as a church is through our For Our Community initiative. Over the years, through that For Our Community effort, we have served and blessed our communities in dozens of ways. We have provided volunteer service and financial support to schools, parks, the Boys & Girls Club, senior centers, group homes, food pantries and many other community efforts and organizations. Even through Covid we have been able to keep up some of this work, but not as completely as we would like.
As we continue to return to a full expression of our work as a church, one of the areas we want to expand upon is this For Our Community effort. As a part of that, we are going to launch a new component that I am super excited about. Beginning this Sunday, for every completed connection card that is dropped in the offering basket, or filled out online, we are going to donate $1 towards a specific For Our Community project. And for any first time guess who complete a card, we are going to donate $5. This includes any connection cards filled out by those worshiping with us online. Each month we will announce a different recipient. So while a dollar doesn't sound like a lot, when we multiply it by the hundreds of folks in attendance every week, times 4 or 5 Sundays a month, it will really add up.
The reason we are tying this to our connection cards is twofold. First it allows each of us to be an intentional part of the effort. Secondly, it supports an additional important element of our ministry; congregational care. Connection cards are an important piece of how we care within our congregation. Connection cards help us to have complete and accurate contact information so we can reach out to people in times of need. And by completing the card each week, it helps us to know how people are doing and keep track of attendance.
With the combination of the busyness of life, and concerns over Covid, it is not unusual for a person or family to miss a week of worship from time to time. But if a person misses several weeks in a row, we want to be able to reach out and be sure they are okay. Often these “congregational care check-ins” have helped us to become aware of illness, hospitalizations, loss or other struggles. This allows our pastors and our care team to better support, pray for and assist members of our congregation in times of need. And by having guests complete a card, it makes it possible for us to reach out to them, express appreciation for worshiping with us and answer any questions they may have. Even a simple text or email follow-up can make a big difference in the likelihood that a guest will return.
So our For Our Community effort for December will be The Giving Trees. For every completed connection card Rock Church will donate $1 (or $5 for first time guests) towards gifts for needy children that either didn't get claimed from The Giving Tree or we became aware of too close to Christmas to get tags out. So this Sunday, I would encourage you to do good by filling out your connection card. And wait until you see how it adds up by the end of the month!
Have a blessed week. I look forward to us all being together this Sunday as we continue the celebration of Advent.
Love you all,
Pastor Steve.