Dear Followers of Christ at Grace Church,
Last Sunday, we gathered to celebrate the goodness of God in our lives and in our community by sharing from our abundance through our 2015 pledges to Grace Church. A pledge to Grace Church is a symbol of our gratitude to God for all the gifts we receive and a covenant to use these gifts to God’s glory and in service in God’s world. Each gift is vital to our work. I thank you for giving generously.
In the next month we will begin planning for next year. Following the completion of our extraordinarily successful Community Network Dinners and the information gathered through surveys completed by our congregation, we are beginning to talk with missional partners in the Southern Berkshires. In addition to our work in Gideon’s Garden with children and young people and our service at the Lee and People’s Pantries to brothers and sisters who are hungry, we are exploring ways we might answer God’s call to work with young people and families through the Railroad Street Youth Project, Multicultural Bridge, and Fairview Hospital. We are exploring ways to reach out to our neighbors who are isolated and in need of care and proper nutrition. We will be bringing these proposals to the Vestry and to the congregation. This work is possible only through generous hands and hearts. If you have not yet offered a pledge of your gifts to Grace, we ask you to do so. We are thankful for what you share.
We each are given more than we could ask or imagine through the love of God. We are privileged to be a part of this faithful and faith-filled community. I am grateful beyond measure for all that you are and all that you share with our community. Thank you for giving from your first fruits so that together we may go where God calls us and live out as we can how God has given to us. May we see the gifts we bring as our offering to God–sacred, holy, and filled with possibilities.
In the love of Christ,
Janet