Dear Church of the Redeemer UMC Member and Friends.
This is the third stewardship letter I send as your pastor. The Finance Committee has created a financial vision statement for the coming year, sometimes called a budget — and we ask members and friends to participate in that vision by pledging to give regularily to the church in 2024.
We continue to be conservative in our financial vision, but the operational continues to grow. The budget for 2024 is 3% higher then for 2023, mostly due to increased utility costs.
Our mission continues to the community. We continue to serve meals as the Luke 3:11 Ministry. We partner with Greater Cleveland Congregations in a fight for a more just society. We are meeting for worship, for prayer, for Bible study, and for book club. We are part of Faiths Alive, a community of religious groups and organizations committed to support the work of social workers in CHUH schools. This year we have been able to support UPCaM, the Protestant Campus Ministry in Case Western Reserve, Cleveland State, and Tri-C.
There are continuing challenges ahead, and we need to be prepared.
- The building needs to be cared for. We have dozens of children in the building every weekday, and we want to be certain that the building is up to standard, not only for us but for those that we share it with.
- Work needs to be done to make the building accessible for people with limited mobility.
- All costs of the church, apart from a modest rent, are paid by pledged and unpledged giving.
Please prayerfully consider your pledge for this coming year. And know that whatever you are able to pledge will be used to make our mission stronger, our people cared for, and help get our building in better shape.
Let us each commit to the ways we can show our gratitude for God’s continuing work through Church of the Redeemer UMC with the pledge of our time, talents, gifts, service, and witness.
May all that we do together, be for the bettering of all of God’s people.
Peace, Justice and Joy.
Pastor Halldor Gudmundsson