Grounded in Faith, Giving with Joy
2025 Stewardship Pledge
We will begin in October to gather pledges of support for the ministries and mission of First Lutheran Church. The theme for our 2025 campaign is “Grounded in Faith, Giving with Joy." First Lutheran Church is indeed grounded in faith in God and his promises to the people of God. And we hope that you are experiencing the joy that comes in helping to support the ministry that results from this faith.
Unfortunately, we have experienced a trend in recent years of declining numbers of pledges and, thus, a reduction in the direct support for the funding of our ministry. We hope to reverse that trend with a strong positive response to the ministry work within this congregation.
The reason pledge response is so important is that the total amount pledged for each year represents the largest portion of all the funds available for ministry work. This directly affects the size of the budget and the amounts that can be allocated to each area. Your commitment and your promise of support is critical!
Although the total number of pledges was down in 2024 from the previous year, the number of dollars promised, along with the wonderful annual support from the First Lutheran Church Foundation, was sufficient to fully fund the ministry programs requested for the year, with the notable exception of funding for a third full-time pastor. And the response from you has been strong thus far to give us great hope that we will make budget through the entire year.
We have a special request to those of you who are taking advantage of the option to automate your giving. We ask you to please remember to complete a pledge card, either by submitting the actual hard copy or by using the online option to indicate your support. We want to be sure that this support is reflected properly as a promise for the new year when Council is working on the 2025 budget.
Join us in the weekend worship opportunities for four weeks beginning September 29 for messages about the work of this congregation that you can help support with your pledge for 2025. This begins with the prayerful hope that we will see a sufficient increase in support to include funding to seek a third pastor in 2025.
The pastoral staffing and the ministry and program ideas coming forth from our ministry boards for 2025 represent the kinds of things that we would like to be able to do as a congregation. We ask for your pledges for 2025 as a promise of broad-based support for these ministry goals!
Thank you! Your support through prayer, time, talent, and financial contributions is greatly appreciated. Every gift matters, no matter how large or small, and each is part of the whole of First Lutheran sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
All members of First Lutheran Church are encouraged to participate in stewardship.