Pastor Ritter ~ July
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
I give thanks to God for each and everyone of you! I am immensely grateful that God has called me to serve as your pastor here at Immanuel. God has truly blessed this place over the last several years and I have confidence that He will continue to bless the good work done in His name and to His glory.
The month of July is upon us and, while it may not seem like it, it is a new year for us … a new fiscal year. Last month, we met as a congregation for our regular June Congregational Assembly and we presented several things including the budget for this fiscal year, ministry goals and objectives, and updates on how we are doing as a whole as a congregation.
As I mentioned already, over the last four years, God has blessed Immanuel in many and various ways. Prior to my arrival, you as a congregation put forth a strategic plan in which the leaders of this church together with the members carried out. It resulted in achieving each of the objectives set forth. We have a thriving and engaged congregation, we are fully staffed in both our church and our school, growing membership, new and exciting ministries, and we are now worshipping in a new worship space.
We have now set a new strategic plan, set by you the members of the church and guided by the mission and vision of this church. The mission remains. Immanuel Lutheran Church and School exists to Share the Love of Jesus, Grow in Faith, and Serve Community. And our vision: “Reimagining Immanuel Lutheran Church and School we focus on spiritual growth of God’s people in order to bring the gospel to as many people as possible.” Both the mission and the vision go hand in hand and it will take all of us to not only carry those out, but to achieve the objectives that have been set by you in the newest strategic plan.
I bring all of this up, because a challenge that we face in the midst of the tremendous growth is being able to financially sustain it and to continue to support it through the work of volunteers. We are encouraging all of our members to prayerfully consider both how you can get involved in the life of the congregation through Ministry Action Teams that are being formed as we speak and have already begun the work of carrying out the goals and objectives that will help us reach our targets in the strategic plan.
We are also encouraging all of you to prayerfully consider your financial contributions in support of the mission and ministry of Immanuel. The congregation recently voted for a budget that was not merely balanced, but would result in positive cash flow at the year’s end. In order to achieve this, we will need to see an increase in giving among all of our members. One of the objectives of our strategic plan is to put forth a creative financial plan and while that is still in the works, I would like to take time over the next several months to focus our attention on what God’s Word has to say regarding managing our finances. Beginning next month, my newsletter articles will be addressing not a “creative financial plan” but rather the Creator’s financial plan.
As we grow spiritually through the study of God’s Word, my prayer is that we will discover how Godly stewardship is never about what God wants from us, but instead is about what God wants for us. Amen.