FROM THE PASTOR - SUMMER 2005

July 1st marks the beginning of my eighth year as your pastor. It promises to be an exciting one! The members of your Church Council met on May 19th, and together we looked at the results of our post Easter Survey. We then talked about what the results meant, and how our church might address the needs you listed.

The results of our brainstorming session were truly inspiring. Over the next few years, we are going to be concentrating our efforts in addressing all of the needs you highlighted. It begins this fall with an emphasis on housing and hunger (the top two vote getters on our survey.). Here are a couple of examples of what we have planned.

Housing

“Good $sense” This personal financial management course is not just about managing money, but about helping Christians develop a biblically based understanding of money and its place in our daily lives.

“Home buying seminar” What’s involved in buying a home? What steps do you need to take? What in the world is a P& S? What kind of paperwork is involved? How do I get a mortgage? What’s a Fico? All these questions and many others will be answered in this program.

Hunger

Quarterly food drives: We already support the food pantry at the U.U. Church. But in the coming year, we are going to be even more intentional about collecting for it.

A TON OF FOOD! Every time we take food over to the pantry, we’re going to weigh it. We will then inform everyone through both the bulletin and the newsletter of how much food we’ve donated to date. Our goal is to donate a ton of food from September through June. We even have a great slogan: First Community cares a ton.

Look for more ideas and programs in our summer fund raising letter, arriving later this month.

Pastor Tony