On Sunday, October 1, we will celebrate Pledge Sunday in worship. We gather on Pledge Sunday to give thanks for the ongoing dedication of the congregation to its mission and ministries, as well as to anticipate and prepare for the coming year. We are grateful to the congregation for its thoughtful gifts and sacred commitment as we build community serve community.
We give thanks for the Stewardship Committee as they have prepared the Preliminary Budget for 2024, taking notice of the needs around our church facilities, while supporting our programs of ministry and leaning into our commitment to serve others locally and globally. We give to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, partnering with other congregations to care for people in other places of the world, while also prioritizing our children, youth, and college students. We also support local ministries in Auburn, like the Reach program or the Presbyterian Community Ministry.
The budget builds the community of Auburn First Baptist Church, as we are an outpost of ministry, but it also serves community, reaching out to the needs of others. We give thanks for the dedication of the congregation to these efforts.
We call our support of the church many different things. We call them pledges, as it reflects our dedication. We say they are our offerings because they reflect our love for God. We refer to them as our gifts, for they reflect our love for others. We might call them our tithes, as they are a portion of what we have received, giving thanks to God.
We can call them many things, but they are our commitment to God and to one another. They are how we join hands with one another to participate in mission and ministry. We are thankful for this opportunity because it is meaningful and sacred.
We can consider our pledge, our offering, our gift, our tithe to the church for 2024. We can join with each other as we build community and as we serve community.
-Tripp