Dear Friends and Family of RRUMC,
Happy New Year!! It seems strange to write that as I sit in my office on December 8.
I know that I am writing this for the January issue of the Circuit Rider and have been thinking of what to write about as we enter 2022. We had our Staff-Parish Relations Committee meeting last night and I was able to share some of the amazing things happening in the church right now. Other committee members said that more people need to hear these things. AHA!! That is a great way to start the New Year.
As I give you this information and other fun facts about the church right now, remember that we are still navigating the pandemic that started in March of 2020. That makes all of this information even more amazing.
Financially, after forecasting a sizable shortfall for 2021, it looks like it is almost certain that we will not only not have a shortfall but that we will actually have a financial carryover that we can put towards 2022.
At this point in the Consecration Sunday stewardship campaign, we have received 210 “Estimate of Giving” cards for a total of $717,000. That is the most we have ever had in the 11 years that I have been here at this point in the campaign.
We have also had 26 new families turn in a card for the first time. That is incredible news!! We are still forecasting a budget shortfall for 2022, but less than we initially anticipated.
In regards to attendance on Sunday mornings, we had 323 in worship last weekend (December 5). That is the most since the pandemic started. We also are having first time visitors almost every week. Quinn Bennett shared that, for the first time ever, she gave all her children’s Advent studies away on the first Sunday they were offered. With a smile, she said that she needed to make more already.
Speaking of children, we have 220 children in our upcoming Upward Sports basketball and cheerleading program. We were hoping for 100. That too is incredible news. We also had 30 families worship and shop at our Trinity Campus last Saturday which houses our Twice Blessed Free Store at 9900 Madison Avenue. Yep, you heard that right. We are now one church in two locations.
Those represent just a small sample of the ways your church is being the church out in the world as we respond to God’s call on our lives.
I know that many of you are wondering how we are doing as we keep traveling the unchartered waters of the pandemic. God has been so faithful to us in the way that he continues to bless us and provide for us.
What that means to us as RRUMC is that God has great hopes and expectations for all the ways that we are called to help people meet Jesus Christ in the midst of their story in 2022. As God is faithful to us, we have one thing to do in return and that is to remain faithful to him in the way we carry out his mission for our church.
Thank you for all that you do to support the church financially, prayerfully, in service, and in your attendance in-person and/or online. It’s still all about the story - your story as Jesus Christ moves in the midst of it.
Happy New Year Church!!!!!!!!!! I pray it is a blessed, happy, healthy, and prosperous one for you and yours.
Peace and Blessings,
Rev. Dan