November 6, 2019
Rev. William Bills
We are currently into our fall stewardship campaign. Letters are being mailed. They are also being posted to our Facebook page and our website. They are being sent in the Tower Alert as well. Three people have or will make brief statements in worship the first three Sundays of November. These are all attempts to encourage faithful financial stewardship of our church and ministries as we embrace the challenges set before us in 2020.
The three challenges identified by our finance committee are the May 2020 General Conference and how that may impact our church moving forward, the need to maintain our facility and retire the $750,000.00 debt on our building, and finally, we simply need to underwrite our operating and program expenses for the year.
Rather than asking you to think about what you might give for 2020, I would like to thank you for what you have already done. At ten months through the year we have given away over $86,000.00 for mission and ministry beyond our church. A large part of that goes to the Michigan Conference and the Mid-Michigan District through Ministry Shares. Ministry Shares fund such things as the World Service Fund, The Episcopal Fund, General Church Administration, the Ministerial Education Fund, the Black College Fund, Africa University, Conference Benevolences, and the Interdenominational Cooperation Fund. District Ministry Shares support Christian Education Funding and Youth Service Funds.
Beyond Ministry Shares we have also offered financial support to the United Methodist Committee on Relief, Hurricane Dorian relief, The Wesley Foundation campus ministry, health care ministries, Volunteers in Mission, Native American ministries, mission trips, peace and justice ministries, our missionaries, Jane and Larry Kies at Africa University, United Methodist Women’s missions projects and the United Methodist Men’s Personal Mobility Carts project for people overseas who cannot walk. This is only a partial list of ways our church is making a difference for our neighbors, near and far.
Our Good Samaritan Fund is used at the pastor’s discretion to help with local short term needs. This week alone I was able to purchase a bus ticket for a man who needed to go to Detroit, help a young man in transition with housing costs, purchase groceries for a local family and help someone with medical bills. Earlier in the year two other people received rent assistance and we paid half of the cost for a camp nurse when a volunteer nurse couldn’t be found. We also assisted a college student who had short term transportation needs, made a car payment and helped a man get out of a bad situation and back home to Iowa. A man looking for work received a bus pass for the month and got a haircut. All of this because the members and friends of UUMC are daring each other to love God and our neighbor while being very generous! Thank you all for everything that you do to make the lives of others less difficult!
At University United Methodist Church, we affirm that as disciples of Jesus Christ, we are an open and inclusive congregation and welcome all persons into full participation regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic situation, age, ability, education, background and whether single or partnered.