November 7, 2022
Dear Friends and Members of Shadow Rock,
Grace to you, peace to you. We hope this letter finds you well.
We are in the season of stewardship, turkey, family gatherings, and pumpkin spice coffee. We hope you enjoy every moment. It is our tradition to raise awareness about our support of Shadow Rock and its ministries in this season.
We acknowledge the next year holds some uncertainty. The rhetoric about inflation and a possible recession concerns all of us and it affects our pocketbooks as well as our peace of mind. We know that this is the immediate context in which you pray and consider your estimate of giving to the church. This is realistic. However, we can also remember there is a larger context of the abundance and deep goodness of life. There is the larger context of God’s faithfulness and “God’s seed never begging for bread”. Through your gifts of time, talent, and money Shadow Rock has impacted many lives for the good, and in some cases, Shadow Rock has even saved lives. Thank you for giving, sharing, and being a part of the blessings that flow out into the world.
Different people give in different ways. Offerings include traditional Sunday contributions collected during worship, automated electronic giving, qualified charitable donations (QCD) and non-cash donations such as direct transfers of stock.
We have a firm grasp on our expenses. Our challenge is forecasting income. When you provide your best estimate of giving, it helps us realistically assess our financial needs. It is a time-consuming exercise for Heidi to guess what you might give when the form is not completed. Each of us is doing the best we can, one week at a time. Your estimate of giving is just that. When life changes, we ask you to let Heidi know if your contributions will be impacted, negatively or positively.
Please complete this electronic estimate of giving. Your personal financial information is not collected. This form is simply you letting us know how much and the frequency you intend to contribute next year (weekly, monthly, quarterly or a lump sum donation when the timing is best for your family).
If you have questions regarding the estimate of giving, or would like more information about different ways to give, please contact Heidi Zinn in the finance office.
We will make an end to our official “ask” on November 20, 2022. However, we will not put our stewardship efforts into storage until next fall. We will be trying something different during 2023 with an eye toward 2024.
Thank you for all you do for Shadow Rock and for equipping us for deeds worthy of our best efforts.
Your Executive Committee,
Susan Wadell, President
Peter Johnston, Vice President
Joe Botticelli, Treasurer
Stephanie Moffitt, Secretary
Rev. Kenneth Heintzelman
