Letter to Members

[Here is a letter I just sent to all of our members... I thought it was worth passing on to those of you who are not members who might be interested.]

Dear Members:

This weekend marks the end of our 40 Days of Community journey. It has been an incredible journey!

• We had over 200 people in small groups...

• We have averaged 270 weekly for worship and broke the 300 barrier twice! This is a 10% increase from the fall and a 20% increase from last year...

• We have provided meals for 240 people weekly in Willimantic, sponsored 150 kids in Panama, donated tons of stuff for CareNet, bought the supplies for and assembled and sent 300 AIDS Careworker Kits, and have made close to 1000 "touches" through Servant Evangelism. Additionally, groups have mobilized to take on a ton of different projects from Habitat for Humanity, visitation, tutoring, etc...

• We have seen a ton of new folks step up and start serving on the weekends and throughout the week...

• We will baptize and celebrate with many of our brothers and sisters this weekend...

And this weekend we will hear even more about what God has been doing as we share stories from our own lives and from our smal groups. Indeed, we have learned that WE ARE BETTER TOGETHER -- and as Rick Warren challenges us in the small group lesson this week, let's not think about this in terms of "LOOK WHAT WE HAVE DONE", but rather "LOOK WHAT WE'VE STARTED!".

As we wrap up the campaign, I have three very specific things I want to challenge you with as one of our members:

(1) CONTINUE BEING A PACE-SETTER!

Many of you have really stepped up during the campaign -- as group hosts, serving and volunteering, and really embracing the "I am all in!" mentality. As members, you model for our entire community what it means to be a fully-devoted follower of Christ and a fully-participating member in a local church! Let me say THANK YOU and KEEP IT UP!

(2) LET'S APPLY THIS WEEK'S SMALL GROUP LESSON & GIVE GENEROUSLY!

Rick Warren challenged us each this week to really raise the bar on our personal giving as part of our worship. The Apostle Paul challenges us to "excel in giving", For many of us as members, that means looking for ways to give above and beyond our tithe; for others, that means making a commitment before God and as part of a covenanted community to start tithing! Either way, let me encourage you to take that important next step!

These next couple of weeks leading up to Easter offer an important time for all of us to really step up and excel in our giving. There are three things I want you to consider as I ask you to take a step of faith even in these uncertain economic times:

(a) COVENTRY PROPERTY We are moving forward on the Coventry property and having some significant conversations with some potentially big donors about purchasing the property. I think the "faithful with little, faithful with much" principle applies here. We cannot ask people who do not go to our church to give sacrificicially to us if we ourselves are not tithing and looking to sacrificially give beyond that! I truly believe God will honor our faithfulness and generosity... let's test him in this as we are told on the scriptures (Malachi 3:10).

(b) FY2009-2010 BUDGET Just this week I started working on our FY2009-2010 budget. As you know, this is the year that we must be 100% locally funded--there is no outside money to support our operating expenses. This means we need to either bring in $100,000 additional local income, or we need to cut $100,000 of ministry and programming. We are committed to a zero-based budget this coming year. In other words, each month we will only spend what we have brought in -- and not a penny more. In order to do this we will be closely monitoring the budget on a monthly and quarterly basis and making adjustments accordingly.

In order to make projections for the budget, we will be looking at giving from January through June of this year. While our giving in the fall was excellent (it was up 40% from the previous year), our giving has now dropped 20% from the fall numbers since January. This is concerning and will impact our budgeting process for the coming year. Now, more than ever -- particularly as we grow -- we need our members to step and give generously, faithfully, and sacrificially.

(c) MATCHING GIFT As you know, we just received a $10,000 matching gift for the 150 Day Challenge. My prayer and challenge to you is for us to meet that match by Easter of this year. Not only is that critical for us to keep moving forward on the Coventry property and Manchester campus, but it is a powerful testimony to our community and our potential outside donors. You can either make a gift online (stpaulswired.org/give) or by marking your check as "150 Days" and putting it in the offering (or mailing it to the church office).

(3) INVEST & INVITE As we approach easter, I want to challenge each of you as members of St. Paul's to be praying for and inviting at least 10 different people to our Good Friday or Easter Services. We will have two Good Fridaty Services and five Easter Services (including Manchester). Also, please be inviting folks to our post-Easter series, which designed to connect with seekers and is very evangelistic. I am asking that each of you email me 10 names of people you are praying for and looking to invite -- I want to be praying with you! If we all do this, we will be praying for almost 700 names!!!!

I want to thank you in advance for your prayers, partnership, and faithfulness to God and this church. I hope you sense that we are in the midst of an amazing move of God -- and there is no better place to be in the world!

I look forward to worshiping and celebrating with you this weekend!

The greatest privilege in my life is to follow Jesus Christ. The second greatest privilege is to follow Jesus Christ with you. Thank you for extending that privilege to me!

In Christ Always,

Ben