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Thanks are also in order for our Stewardship Committee and Nominating Team for their good work putting together our 2025 Church Budget and 2025 Church Leadership. Both were affirmed in our Annual Church Meeting, along with the bylaw change. Thank you for voting.
Now, as we move from a season of gratitude to one of hopeful expectation, this Sunday we begin the season of the Church year called Advent. This season of expectation for the arrival of the Christ is meant to help prepare us both for remembering the Christmas miracle and being ready for the second coming of Christ to bring salvation history to its beautiful conclusion.
We will begin our Advent journey tomorrow morning with our Hanging of the Green service. While much of the heavy lifting of decorating happened last week (thanks again!), this meaningful service is a time to reflect on the symbolism of the advent decorations and prepare our hearts to fully engage in this meaningful season of expectation. We will also light and reflect upon the First Sunday of Advent theme of Hope. If you are back in town from your holiday travels, I hope you'll make plans to join us!
Another aspect of looking forward with hopeful expectation is each of us taking time to consider how we plan to financially support the ministries of the church in 2025. Our 2025 Church Budget, which we approved together last week, reflected our Tithes & Offerings next year totaling $750,000. With this in mind, I invite you to prayerfully consider how you might give to the church next year.
As our family considers our plans for giving each year, I find it a helpful spiritual practice to solidify that commitment by making a pledge, and invite you to join my family in doing so. To be clear, the function of your making a pledge is not to obligate you to anything - no one from the church office will be reaching out to try to collect on unpaid pledges. Rather, it is truly an opportunity for a spiritual practice to make concrete our intentions with an intentional commitment.
If you would like to take part in this spiritual exercise, you are welcome to make your pledge online or by using the paper pledge cards which will be available beginning tomorrow. Alongside your pledge, we also invite those who would like personalized giving envelopes next year to opt in on the paper pledge card or by contacting the church office.
I look forward to being with you tomorrow, as we enter this season of Advent, to again be reminded of our evergreen hope - that Christ has come and Christ shall come again! So comes the Lord ... thanks be to God!
Blessings,
Ben
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