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Thank You
When I walked through the 'living nativity' and saw so many youth participating, I couldn't help but think how many lives we are affecting at Faith. And when, at three recent Memorial/Funeral Services, families shared how they don't know how they could have walked through the 'valley' without this 'faith family' being a witness to them of God's love, I was humbled. Then I looked at the bulletin and saw that our We Care food ministry fed 1,202 people in the month of November (that's not a misprint - you fed more than 1,200 people last month), I was again overwhelmed by the generosity of this congregation. You supported the victims of Hurricane Sandy with thousands of dollars, you visit the sick and ill and lonely, you give the children and youth a firm foundation - you are changing lives. God bless you.
Prayer and money are the engine of our caring. On the prayer side, you are strong. I also want to thank you for stepping up financially. Earlier this fall, we were projecting a large 2012 budget deficit - the past two months, however, have seen increased giving. Total giving is now 6.2% above last year (which was a record year) while our expenses have increased by 5.6% -- the Session is managing our growth much better than Washington!
As in past years, a peculiarity of our income stream is that 10% of our income is given in the last week of the year! In other words, if we once again have strong year-end giving, we make the budget and continue to keep Faith on an excellent financial footing.
Thank you for your year-end gifts; thank you for making a difference!
In Faith,
Pastor Tim
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