Saratoga Federated Church - Pastor Welcome

A Message from our Pastor

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