Pastor’s Corner January 2011

The following was published in our monthly newsletter, the Redeemer Report.

We have just come through one of the more eventful Advent seasons I can remember at Redeemer. I hope the services and special events throughout December were a blessing to each of you.

I may be more excited about the upcoming year for our church more than ever before. The blessings of God over the past year, the challenges of the present and uncertainties of the future fire me up. These are the times that God grows our faith and trust in Him. I am certain He will provide for Redeemer and our members according to His perfect wisdom, but how He will do it keeps us alert.

One of our main efforts in 2011 will be an aggressive attack (in the form of a capital campaign) on the remaining debt on the church property. Redeemer has undergone numerous building campaigns and ministry expansion efforts over the years, but has never conducted a formalized capital campaign before. When the sanctuary was completed in 2007, it was the prayer and plan of the RPC leadership to pay off the property within 5-7 years.

The obvious primary goal of the upcoming capital campaign is to pay off our remaining debt on the property. Meeting such a goal will solve our current budget shortfall, strengthen ministries for the immediate future, and help expand our outreach efforts in the future. There are other goals for such a campaign, however. The giving of the members of Redeemer has been generous compared to other churches nationally. The specific giving of Redeemer members, however, has been historically deep, but not all together wide. We are praying that a wider swath of the membership starts to give toward the ministry regularly. Additionally, just as most of the giving tends to come from a relative minority of the congregation, ministry involvement and service beyond the Sunday morning worship service is similar. We are praying a capital campaign spurs a wider ministry involvement from Redeemer members than previously seen. This campaign is not just about raising funds, it’s about rallying the church together for an important cause and mobilizing each member to use his or her gifts going forward.

Would each of you pray about your part in our church meeting this important challenge? There will be many volunteers needed to organize and carry out this campaign (mark your calendar for the “Volunteer Organizational Meeting” on January 20). You will be receiving regular communications with all sorts of important information. Please read everything we send you, help out where you can, and pray for every aspect of this campaign. I really see 2011 as a pivotal year for Redeemer. May God continue to shower us with His grace, keep us faithful to His gospel, empower us to make disciples of Christ, and cause us to bring glory to His worthy name.

In the Lamb,
Pastor Tony Felich