CARE FOR OUR BUILDINGS
God alone is my rock - Psalm 62:2
INVEST IN WELCOME, SECURITY, AND SUSTAINABILITY
Most of you recently received a series of mailings introducing our Generosity Appeal, Building on the Rock. One of the key focuses of this year’s appeal is care for our buildings. Buildings and their adjacent parking lots and grounds, need ongoing maintenance to keep them looking good, to ensure they are safe and to avoid costly future repairs due to neglect. When speaking about the devastating condo collapse in Surfside, FL earlier this year, Robert Nordland, founder and CEO of Association Reserves (a consulting firm that works with worship facilities on how to best budget for major repairs) points out that “Deterioration is constant. Deterioration is expensive. Deterioration is predictable. And so the board should be setting aside funds on an ongoing basis to offset that deterioration.”
While a donation for building repairs may not be as exciting as gifts for new programming or as visible as gifts for new signs or a new organ, these donations are still vital and life-giving for a church. Our buildings are where worship and learning happen, where faith is built, where connections are formed and where community outreach begins, growing from there to reach so many others.
The past 18 months has been one of constant upheaval and uncertainty. Every aspect of our lives has been upended and we’ve all had to compromise, sacrifice, and learn to deal with the unknown. But through it all, God has remained faithful, He has been our rock – the rock upon which our faith, through our generosity can build.
God’s word as gospel tells us that everything we have – our livelihood, food, shelter, clothing, our very lives – has been given to us by God. God’s word as law tells us to share generously of our time, talents, and treasures with others in need. Therefore, as merely stewards of all that He has given us, we are invited to live a life of generosity so we can be a real and powerful witness to God’s love though our action.
Let us pray:
God, make this church a place of generosity where people work together, giving all that they are and all that they have, so that the wonderful resources of our world may be better shared.