A Message from our Pastor
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Dear
friends and family,
This is an invitation to
support our regular ministries: the everyday
activities that regularly change and enrich the lives of
hundreds of people. Many of these good things have been
happening here for eighty years. Others are springing up all
the time. We are a dynamic church filled with interesting
people doing intriguing things. If supporting regular
ministry sounds, well, sort of regular, let me
inspire you with some brief glimpses of what's really
happening on the home front.
People
When you come to church,
what's the most obvious and visible gift that God has sent
our way? People. We're everywhere. Younger and older and
everything in between, our church is an intergenerational
miracle. Singles and couples, families and friends gather
and learn and fellowship and serve. People, loved by God,
make the church strong.
We believe that the best
way "do church" is to put ministry in the hands of
people. Yes, we have a committed, talented, experienced
corps of pastors and professional staff. Supporting regular
ministries means supporting our staff and their families.
Still, our staff believes that we exist to equip people for
service. We want to inspire you and others like you, to
discover where your time, talent and energy can be invested
in ways that are fruitful and enjoyable. Our church
flourishes when people jump in and participate. Here,
ordinary people often have extraordinary visions. Your
regular ministry giving fuels these visions.
Programs
People build catalytic
programs that give structure and direction to our mission.
Some of our programs are obvious and well known. We have
four Sunday worship services. Adults, teens and children
have classes and small groups for growth, mutual support and
service. Musicians share their gifts. Leaders lend a sense
of oversight and direction. Men meet with men and women with
women. Mentors meet with eager apprentices. Singles now have
a vital, visible presence in our midst. Everywhere, people
are helping people in programs designed to deliver real
help. And you should know this: your gift to regular
ministries means support for 31 missionaries and 15
compassionate agencies in 22 countries with annual
allocations over $200,000. The list of programs goes on and
on.
Other programs are
emerging. For example, we're hungry for more adult growth
opportunities. We've rearranged staff and reapplied
resources toward that crucial matter. We're also eager to
bring our communication strategies into the new century,
with helpful technologies and upgraded publications. With
all these emerging programs, some initiatives inevitably
wait for funding. A list of currently unbudgeted projects is
provided on the back cover. If your circumstances allow you
to accelerate our attention to any of these, we will be
grateful.
Property
God has graced this
church with a beautiful facility on a strategic property. We
all know that it takes money to manage our property and
upgrade facilities in order to keep up with a burgeoning
ministry. Through giving to our regular ministries, we make
sure that this place is safe, functional, attractive and
hospitable. Our church Foundation plays a strategic role in
long-term campus development. This Giving Overview is also
an encouragement to support the SFC Foundation, and its
broader mission.
All in all, I encourage
you to pray about your involvement financially. We will
watch people, programs and property renewed and infused with
new possibilities if all of us can give prayerfully,
generously and even sacrificially. If your generosity is
seeking opportunities beyond our 2003 church budget and
Foundation, I want to direct your attention to our Giving
Catalog. Thank you for reading this Giving Overview and for
your kind response.
Yours in Christ,

Keith Potter, Senior Pastor
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Copyright © 2004 by Saratoga Federated Church, Saratoga,
California. All rights reserved. |
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