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As Christian stewards, we are called to be generous givers. The church appeals for our financial generosity especially during the annual financial campaign.
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A Message from Matt Knecht (Lay Leader) |
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Greetings, again, in the name of Jesus Christ! As we move into the spring and summer months, I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight three things in the life of Chardon United Methodist Church since I last asked for “space” in the Harbinger.
The 2010 Stewardship Campaign
Thanks to the dedication and commitment of all of you, the 2010 Stewardship Campaign was a reflection of God‟s blessing that has been poured out upon our church and congregation. For the first time in several years, CUMC will be operating from a position of a balanced budget in 2011. This is key to the ministry of our church. As I write this, we can say with joy that the church has paid its connectional apportionments in full for the months of January and February. However, the successful Stewardship Campaign “gets us to even” - meaning that, while having a balanced budget is fantastic - it does not address the backlog of things that in the past were “put off”. Plus, we still have a considerable debt burden through our mortgage. Church Council has been discussing options for reduction of this debt burden…something that any of us who have (or have had) a mortgage fully understand the value of. Reducing the debt burden on our mortgage will free up additional resources that can be used by the church to advance our ministry in our community and around the world. Please be watching and listening for additional details as we move forward through 2011.
Regular meetings with Pastor Dan
In my role as Lay Leader, Pastor Dan and I are meeting on a regular basis to discuss a variety of topics. If there is something that you would like me to express to Pastor Dan on your behalf, please let me know.
Again, blessings to all you in the name of Jesus Christ! These are exciting times for CUMC, and it is hoped that 2011 is a period of peace, hope and joy for each of you. |
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You’re Invited to an Exciting Journey |
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It’s so easy to make snap judgments about others, isn’t it? Though we may try our best to see others through eyes of grace, fully understanding that they’re still works in progress, just as we are, it can happen so quickly that we barely recognize it. In the blink of an eye, we size someone up according to their gender, their clothing, their race, and maybe what we consider their level of attractiveness. And based on all that, we form expectations about who they are.
Sometimes, if we take the time to get to know those people, we discover that they are indeed like we thought. But other times, they offer us a surprise; we find ourselves completely amazed at their depth, or character, or even life experience. Can you relate? |
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Jesus said, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” When you give to this church and we pay our shared ministry (apportionment) we help care for children through assisting the churches of the East Ohio Conference in developing Child Protection Policies to ensure that children can come to Jesus through the United Methodist Church. Thank you for caring for children through the ministries of Chardon United Methodist Church. |
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In Difficult Economic Times |
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In difficult economic times, people tend to tighten their financial belts, cut back, decrease in areas of spending that are deemed “discretionary”. In the fall of 2008, the individual savings rate increased to its highest level since 2002 in response to the bad economic news. Today, a sense of thrift and sacrifice has become paramount in personal financial planning.
Lower personal spending and reduced household budgets have had an impact on individual charitable giving as determined by a study published by The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University published its Briefing on the Economy and Charitable Giving in December 2008. Chardon United Methodist Church is not immune to this current condition that grips our country. Our Church to date has not cut back on its services to its congregation, missions, educational programs, and other programs. |
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God is Great. God is Good. |
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God is Great. God is Good. And we thank Him for this food. Bow our heads and let us pray. Amen.
How many times in our homes have we shared this simple, but truthful little prayer over our meals? This simple act is remembering where our food comes from. It is our acknowledgement, that without God’s greatness or goodness we would not have all our nutritional needs met.
Isn’t our choice to give to our church another simple act of remembering where all our gifts of Grace come from? Isn’t where we acknowledge that without God’s greatness or goodness we would not have our spiritual, emotional and life sustaining needs met? Sometimes I think we try to make our faith much more complicated that it truly is ...
God is Great. God is Good. And we thank Him for our lives. Amen. |
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Annual Giving