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Our Ministries :
Stewardship Team :
Consecration Sunday
What is Consecration Sunday?
It is an opportunity to share your generosity for the ministry and
programs for the glory of God.
- "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
Matthew 6:21
Dear Members and Friends of New Hope United Church of Christ,
Sunday November 2, 2003 will be Consecration Sunday at New Hope
United Church of Christ. We urge you to plan now to attend the important
events of this day. As a people of New Hope United Church of Christ, we
have been blessed with many gifts. It is now time to find tangible
expressions of thanks in our common life which is our church.
- "The Budget is the Heart of the Church"
We usually think of the church budget as little more than a practical
tool, something that helps us monitor income and keep track of
expenditures. Or we think of it as a necessary evil; the budget is
something we have to work hard to meet. How, then, is the budget the
"Heart of the Church?'
A church budget reflects the dreams of the people of the church. It
is a practical tool for accomplishing what we wish to do and be as a
church. Not everything we do in church costs money- some of the most
significant things that happen here are absolutely free. But none of
them would be happening if the church were not here in the first place,
and it costs money to have a church. The budget is the heart of the
church because without it, we would not have this place in our lives to
experience God's grace.
A church budget is like any other budget, with one critical
difference. Every dollar in a church budget is a dollar that someone has
given freely, under no compulsion, driven by a wish for the church to
exist. Every dollar in a church budget represents someone's generosity
and good will. The church budget is not a necessary evil or a mere tool;
it is a celebration of organized generosity.
As you consider your gift to the church, remember that the church
requires no payment from you. It asks for your support, and it depends
on the generosity that God has placed within you.
Cordially,
Bob Sterle
The Stewardship Team
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