Generous Together

Community UMC:

As we begin our Fall 2024 Stewardship Campaign this Sunday, I want to take a moment to thank you for the incredible ways you show your love and support for our church. We are a church that is growing in many, many ways! Everything here – all our programming and the facilities in which they take place – is made possible by your gifts of time, talent, service, witness, and financial support.

We give to minister in Jesus’ name. Together, we United Methodists do remarkable ministry around the world, not just here in Crofton but also in the surrounding community.

Here at Community UMC, we care for local children needing food on the weekends; we help survivors recovering from earthquakes and storms by putting together flood buckets and hygiene kits; we help the homeless with meals; we make sure families that might go without Christmas gifts receive toys and presents by joining with the Giving Tree; and so much more. In all of this, we share the good news of Jesus Christ by giving sacrificially as he first did. We respond generously as we seek to be Jesus’ representatives in this church, the neighborhood, many areas of need, and the world.

This letter includes a narrative budget of our church for this year. There you can see how your gifts are spent at Community UMC. The Finance Committee will work on the 2025 budget after our Stewardship Campaign is concluded. That is why filling out and returning your Estimate of Giving Card is so important. By completing this simple act of commitment, we will have a greater understanding of where we stand for mission and ministry in 2025. The cards will be available in the sanctuary before and after worship starting Oct. 27, or you can click here to fill it out digitally.

All we have is a gift from God. The question becomes, “What will we return to God in gratitude for the work of mission and ministry?” Will we let the Spirit speak into our hearts and motivate us to do more than we may ever have thought possible, together? As a church, working together, will we step forward to fund all the people, programs, and our facility so that we may bear much fruit? (Romans 7:4)

At the top of this letter – and printed in our Generous Together devotional – is a small prayer. I invite you to say this prayer at least once, and possibly many more times, during the day. It is a prayer of gratitude. It is a prayer of supplication, asking God to open our eyes so that we can see what God is doing, and helping us discover how we, together, can be co-workers with Christ.

May we continue our faithful journey with each other, and be “Generous Together”!

Thank you for your generous support and witness!

Pastor Erik