Greetings Pax Pres! I want to share a few ways God has been at work so far in 2022 to encourage you about the remainder of the year and beyond. God was definitely at work in our recent Vacation Bible School, with 85 children participating and 58 volunteers, 27 of those been teenagers. 16 high schoolers and 9 middle schoolers recently returned from their retreats where God was at work. God has brought 12 new members into our fellowship, not including other numerous new visitors every single Sunday. We’ve celebrated 6 baptisms this year. Total worship attendance is harder to gauge now with livestream, but we’ve seen an average of 152 people in person for worship with a recent peak of 185, while also maintaining a steady ministry to people worshipping via livestream both near and far. We continue to disburse our monthly support to devoted missionaries locally and abroad. And among many other outreach efforts, we’ve already prepared 350 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child to bless that same number of children overseas this coming winter!
All these numbers are of value to our Lord. But every number is a person that God longs to reach with the call of Jesus. For example, two of those 85 VBS children are part of a family who are brand-new to our church because of a decade-long friendship with a fellow Pax member named Steve. Every one of those numbers is an individual who other individuals are ministering to in some meaningful way like Steve. That’s a ton of bridges built for the Gospel!
If I told you the unique way only God could have orchestrated that VBS family’s friendship with Steve, you would see that, no exaggeration, all of the ministries of our church each played a part in building that bridge for the Gospel.
This summer, our Session launched a Stewardship Committee. This committee’s purpose is “develop a creative, consistent strategy to make church members aware of the many gifts God has given us, and how we can commit those gifts in service to God’s mission for Pax Pres.” One way the Stewardship Committee will do that is by sharing stories throughout the year, like Steve’s, to encourage all of us to grow as disciples in however we can contribute to build bridges for the Gospel too. That includes our time and skills – this brand-new worship banner right here beside me is a visible reminder of time and skills that build bridges: it was lovingly quilted just in recent months by one of our members to keep our eyes centered on Christ every Sunday. Building bridges for the Gospel includes our time and skills, and it includes our finances.
Speaking of finances, here’s a midyear snapshot of where we stand at Pax. The Pax Pres annual operating budgeted income for 2022 is $687,200. As of June 30, our actual income stands at right around $350,000. In that sense, we’re on schedule for making our budgeted income, thanks to your generosity by God’s grace. Our annual budgeted expenses for 2022 are just over $808,000. Year-to-date actual expenses as of June 30 are also just over $350,000. However, we did approve an annual budget that planned for use of roughly $121,000 of reserves, which are there for extraordinary times like our current world!
In order to finish our originally budgeted year strong and in the black would require prayerful generosity on all of our parts. Our Session has led by faith by launching the search for an Associate Pastor of Families, Children, and Youth. In fact, if you hear the echo of my voice in this recording like I’m coming from any empty room, I’m filming this in our vacant associate pastor’s office. Can you partner with me in following God’s lead to fill this chair for the sake of families and students who need the Gospel in our community?
Apart from any other new expense needs in 2023, if you combine projected salary with required benefits percentages in our denomination, that associate position will add roughly another $100,000 to budgeted 2023 expenses. In order to fill that staffing addition in 2023 without depending on reserves will require a stretch in faith from each of us personally. I know God can empower us to reach this goal, because I know you share God’s heart to reach more people of all ages with the Gospel, like that one story about Steve and a VBS family. This stained glass behind me in our sanctuary is a reminder of the names in memory of the glass who are the saints upon whose legacy of faithfulness our current worship and mission are built – how can we do any less than follow in their footsteps of giving generously for the sake of future generations long after us?
With my own household to manage, I know this time of inflation and many other world concerns is an anxious time to draw attention to the time and finances needed to fulfill God’s mission at Pax Pres. But if we entrust to God his first fruits to us, God can make and grow disciples of Jesus through us by building bridges for His Gospel. Our neighbors in Southern Maryland and our global neighbors need the rescue of a Savior in the midst of all the despair and hopelessness around us. God is not just at work in the positive and encouraging numbers and stories – many siblings in Christ in our church and our wider community are being struck by illness, loneliness, financial insecurity, anxiety, and more. So I encourage, even urge you, to join me in asking God how he is calling you to grow as a selfless, generous disciple to serve others with the hope of Christ. As Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
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