Dear Brothers & Sisters,
At our last gathering, Ryan O’Hara spoke to us of the Gift of Giving and some of the principles that ground the Gift that God wants to give us through our giving. Ryan reminded us that, like our praise – God does not need us to give to him; we are the ones who need to give.
Ryan spoke of the principles of giving: he spoke of Stewardship and the fact that everything we have comes from God, and he spoke of First Fruits - that we are to bring to the Lord our first fruits to support the local Church, and specifically in our case, CCR. He asked us to consider what lifestyle adjustments we may need to make to be as generous as possible, and what heart and mind adjustments we need to make to appreciate the gift that God wants to give through tithing, alms, and other charitable giving.
We shared about an important need within our Community—the call to increase our giving to support the ministries and programs that are vital to the way of life God has entrusted to us. The Lord has blessed us abundantly—not only in our families, but also in the rich, purposeful life we share together. Our practice is that 50% of our tithe would be directed towards the Community as taught in the Living in Community Formation Course, Caring for the Body.
While many of our programs include participation fees, there are also essential administrative and staff costs that ensure everything runs smoothly. Your tithes play a crucial role in sustaining a wide range of ministries, especially for our children and youth: from year-round classes and events, Vacation Bible School, and Little Tykes, to BLAST Camp, G1, Strong Fish Club, the Jr. High Retreat, Youth Group meetings, leadership training, retreats, the Mega Canoe Trip, and the YES Retreat—the list keeps growing!
Beyond these, your support also helps us reach outward through service projects, pastoral care, Women’s and Men’s Retreat scholarships, the Community Conference, and special gatherings during Lent and Advent. Together, we are building a way of life, and your generosity makes it all possible.
We are grateful for all we have been given and for the numerous hours of volunteer time given to serve the Lord, one another, and the Church in general. We truly have been given and have received much!
As the fiscal year comes to an end and we plan for the coming year, we invite you to prayerfully consider an increase to what you have been giving financially to support the way of life the Lord has called us to. I shared last week at the gathering that we have not been operating with a balanced budget for the past several years. To close this deficit, we would ask you to prayerfully consider the following: if you are already giving, would you consider increasing your tithe by 10% (for example if you gave $2,500.00 last year to increase it by $ 250.00 to $2,750.00) If you are not giving financially at present we ask that you would consider giving $10.00 a week or $50.00 once a month. In either case, you can set an automatic withdrawal to pull from your account weekly or monthly. I believe it is easier for some to schedule their giving to pull weekly or bi-weekly if you are not currently in the habit of making that payment. Making these changes in addition to other fundraising we will be doing this coming year will bring us back to a balanced budget.
Please follow the link to fill out and set up your 2025-2026 tithe pledge by June 13th. In addition, if you feel you are able to add to your 2024-2025 giving, please log in to the CCR website here and make the additional donation towards this years budget.
I am grateful for the life the Lord has called us to, I am grateful for the many years we have had together, and I look forward to what the Lord has for us in the years to come.
God bless you with His peace and joy!
Deb Lofquist (on behalf of the Finance Committee) and David Groppel (on behalf of the Council of Coordinators and Women’s Leadership Council)