For Love
A Letter From Pastor Randy “God is love” (1 John 4:8). Over the past five years you have often heard me say that, for me, Christianity boils down to love and relationship. We love God, and we love our neighbor. We maintain a relationship with God, and we maintain relationships with our neighbors. For more than sixty years Aldersgate UMC has faithfully loved God and neighbor. We find ourselves at a unique time in history, and we are facing many challenges. With challenge comes opportunity. In February we will begin a generosity initiative called “For Love.” This initiative is for love of God, for love of self, for love of community, for love of the world, and for love of church. John reminds us, “let us love one another because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7). This new approach to funding the missions and ministries of Aldersgate UMC is called a One Fund. All our ministries, missions, and funds, with the exception of the Aldersgate Endowment Fund, will be in one place rather than being spread over many areas. This approach will allow us to fully fund our budget, expand our missions and ministries, retire our debt, and simplify our budgeting and planning. Our “For Love” generosity initiative is a two-year commitment (2022 & 2023) totaling $2.2 million that will proactively position us to meet the challenges of bringing people into a saving relationship with Christ and making disciples of Jesus Christ in the 21st century. As we prepare for our “For Love” generosity initiative I challenge you to embrace the possibilities God has placed before us and contemplate your response to God’s love. Specifically, I challenge you to 1–pray for Aldersgate UMC and our “For Love” generosity initiative, 2–discuss the generosity initiative with your church family, 3–pray about your two-year financial commitment to the generosity initiative as we approach Commitment Sunday on March 27th, 4–actively participate in the “For Love” events, and 5–contemplate your role in the future of our church. Love is a powerful thing, and God’s love is the most powerful of all loves. God’s love saves the world, and God’s love continues reshaping the world. I am blessed by God’s love, I am blessed by your love, and I look forward to the many ways our love will change the world in the name of Christ.
Grace be the journey, Randy FL.OnePager.V5 (1) For Love Core Vision Video https://www.dropbox.com/s/
