Thanksgiving

I am going to thank God for all sorts of things He hasn’t given me yet.

I am going to thank Him for my great-grandchildren… for my retirement… for our 75^th wedding anniversary… for my children supporting me in my old age… and for the 25 pounds I was able to lose.

Now God may or may not give me all those things, but one thing I am fully convinced of is this: I have abundant reasons to be thankful about my future.  The God who loves me perfectly will be directing my future.  The God who let His Son die in my place to assure my eternal future will be with me.  I have His promise:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29:11

Here is a different spin on this.  Peace is 57 years old.  What if in the year 1955, someone had asked our founding mothers and father what people at Peace would be thanking God for 57 years down the road?  Do you think they could imagine being thankful for radio ministry?... for several adult baptisms each year?... for ministries that have strongly influenced two generations?... for websites communicating our mission? ... for an Early Learning Center?... for numerous young people choosing a career in the church?... for strength in mission support?… for several avenues to worship our God?... for outgrowing two sanctuaries?... for launching another church?... for a positive presence in Arvada? …for members going on mission trips around the globe?… and the list goes on.

We cannot even begin to imagine what the future holds for Peace.  We don’t know what will happen to the economy, what the future is for technology, medicine, even our Arvada community… but we do know this:  We have abundant reasons to be thankful about our future.  The God who loves us perfectly will be directing our future.  The God who let His Son die in our place to assure our eternal future will be with us.  And the God who put Peace here 57 years ago and has blessed it abundantly will still be the same great, loving God of blessings.  We have his promise:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29:11

This year at Thanksgiving, don’t forget to thank God for your future.  This year at Thanksgiving, don’t forget to thank God for Peace’s future.  It is going to be a great one with God in charge!

Polly Wegner

Dir. of Discipleship

pwegner@peacelutheran.net

303-424-4454

Kingdom Business

Greetings dear friends! This month I want to talk about offerings (and budgets).  Over the next few months the Parish Planning Committee will be working on next year’s budget for Peace.  Our budget year runs April to March, so the protocol will be to present the budget to the Voters for approval in March. Typically, we have it available for your review at least two Sundays prior to that Voters Meeting.

If you have had an opportunity to attend Voters Meetings, you may be familiar with Peace’s Three Tier Offerings. In short, the offerings we receive are categorized in Three Tiers: General Fund, Building Fund, and Other. Please see the chart below to view our current (6 month Year to Date) Three Tier position.

As you may know, Peace has a mortgage payment ($13,509/mo:$162,108/yr). Donations made to the Building Fund, allow us to use those dollars to assist in making that payment, which relieves our general budget. As you can see from the chart, in our current position 4% of our offerings, or $26,115, can be used to assist with the mortgage payment. This budget year, we have received enough Building Fund dollars to almost make two payments.  The Mortgage Payment budget line item is the second largest (11.5%) item in our budget.

The “Other” Tier includes things like KOA Radio Broadcast, Social Ministry, Mission Trust Fund, Sunday School offerings, and other Voter approved designations that the church manages. To manage our Mission projects, we apply 10% of the total Three Tier offerings to designated recipients in our Mission Budgets. This includes things like the Rocky Mountain District (Synod), Lutheran Bible Translators, and both Lutheran High School Associations.

In closing, I would like to encourage you to consider electronic offerings through our website. There are a variety of options: you can designate the same amount every week, semi monthly, or monthly; if you prefer, you can log on as you are able and make a donation as your income allows. You can do a transfer from your bank account, or use a credit or debit card. As for contribution records, your bank or credit card statement serves as your receipt. This not only offers the highest level of confidentiality, it assists the church with less paperwork and expense.  If you would want to give this way, but don’t have a lot of experience with computers, you could come to the church office and I would be happy to assist you with the learning curve. I can even walk you through it over the phone. If you have a problem with your bank and have to change accounts or credit card numbers, you can call me at the office and I can help you with that change over the phone as well.

Presenting our offerings is an important part of our Worship service and placing that envelope in the plate has been a part of worship for many of us, our entire lives. In Biblical times, gifts were often of food and even animals. So even our pass the plate offering system, is a change from the early church. If it is important to you to place an envelope in the plate, we have some laminated cards available for you to use as the plate goes by. They read “I give electronically” with a nice prayer on the reverse side.  Currently, our online offerings have grown to 25%. This is an increase of 15% over past years. Nationally, churches are reporting 42% of their offerings being received online (2012 State of the Plate).

I hope I have been able to offer some clarity on the Kingdom Business at Peace. As always, if you have a topic you would like me to address, or any business question, please feel free to call or email me. Thank you for allowing me to serve our Lord in His church! May our Lord richly bless our gifts of offerings, time, and talents!

Minding His Business,

Patti Ninneman,

Business Manager

pninneman@peacelutheran.net