Category: Blog

Last Sunday in worship our Finance Committee Chairman, Ray Sandhagen, spoke to us about our 2020 Stewardship Initiative. Below is his speech.

“Good morning.  I am pleased to be with you this morning to help kickoff our Stewardship Initiative for 2020.  So much has happened in our Church and the Methodist denomination this year and it is exciting to think about moving into a new year with new opportunities to grow God’s Kingdom in our Church, our communities and our ministries here and abroad.

Our theme for 2020 is:  Greater Than Me.  Because of your generosity this year, we have been able to accomplish a great deal.  Just to name a few important successes, we moved one of our preschools, the Trinity Christian Academy from South Street to Reeves Center and now we have 75 children enrolled with a waiting list.  The Foundry Ministry was launched, serving those who have aged out of the foster care system in our community.  Our dance ministry, Studio 150, expanded into a second location at the Reeves Center.  We celebrated our 3^rd class of Kenya graduates through our Inua Ministry.  We were able to make numerous improvements to our campus here in Winter Park as well as the Reeves Center to expand our ministries.  It has been a year of growth for our Church and we are thankful for that.

We have included in your bulletin this morning an insert with some details on our metrics comparing 2018 to 2019 and our budget as well as some of our key movements in 2019.  There are a lot of numbers that you can pour over but I want to highlight a few points.  Our year-to-date pledged giving through August has exceeded 2018 by about 6%, however, our unpledged giving has fallen short from last year.  We believe there are several main reasons for this including tax law changes pertaining to charitable giving, the Methodist denomination vote on our future direction as a traditional or an open church and a decline in attendance from last year.  Other Methodist churches are experiencing the same results as we are.

Our expenses YTD through August are under what we budgeted but exceeded last year as our church ministries have grown.  We added more capital expenses into the General Budget this year and we spent more at Reeves Center in 2019 than last year.  We just got the deed to Reeves Center last week and the Methodist Conference will reimburse us for over $200,000 we spent on Reeves. We are not planning an increase in expenses in 2020 and the Ministries are working on their budgets with that in mind.

December is always a very big month for our Church with total giving that is typically more than double what we have in a normal month.  We anticipate that will be our experience this year as well.  Obviously, we are still working on finalizing our 2020 Budget but we intend to have a balanced budget for the coming year.  Our total budget will be about $5 million. I want to highlight our 2020 generosity goals.  First, we have set a goal to increase our individual and collective financial generosity by 5%.  Secondly, we want to increase the number of pledging units by 5%.  2019 was the first year in a decade that we had an increase in pledging units over the previous year.  Our goal is to have 300 pledging units in 2020.  And finally, our third generosity goal, as I said, is to get as close as possible to a balanced budget.

Our Stewardship Initiative is very important to our Church in 2020, as it always is, and we prayerfully ask for your commitment both financially and spiritually.  The Marcy Trust has generously agreed to provide a Challenge Grant as they did for our 2019 Stewardship initiative.

There are a number of ways to give. You can complete a pledge card or give electronically through Realm or our website. We will enclose pledge cards in the bulletin over the next five weeks.

Please prayerfully consider your gift for 2020.  We are indeed grateful for your generosity this year and our upcoming year.  Thank you!”

Ray Sandhagen
Chairman, Finance Committee    

Oct. 18 & 19, 8:00am-1:00pm

Our annual Ruth Circle Rummage Sale is right around the corner! We are accepting donations on Oct. 14-16. Start cleaning those closets and donate to support local missions!

Members and staff can shop the rummage sale early on Thursday, 17 from 12:00-5:00pm.

Meet our Promiseland News Team! Our 5^th graders will provide the FUMCWP news and events each week in Sunday School.

Kenya Mission Team A, Day 6

We spent today in Zone 3, the furthest area from the center of town.  It is about an hour away from the Inua office in Naivasha.  It is a more rural area, scattered among large, internationally-owned, flower farms.   We gathered at a church in the DCK neighborhood with seven youth and one mentor as well as two missioners from Minnesota (courtesy of Ivor and Mary Scott Singer) who were joining us for the second half of our week. 

This area appears to have the greatest need in terms of access to water, education, etc.  Even so, their faith and joy remain high.  It was a blessing to hear the youth speak with enthusiasm and confidence about their futures.  We went to see a few of their businesses including Beth’s hair salon, called “Smart Saloon”, Ben’s Poultry Farm which sells eggs, chickens, and chicks for breeding and Vivian/Cynthia’s hair salon, where a few of us were able to purchase headbands and hair ties.  While there, we ran into Abraham, a Cycle 2 graduate who is now a tour guide at Hell’s Gate National Park. It was so uplifting to see the growth and smile on Abraham’s face!

After our visits with the youth, the Kenyan office staff gave us a tour of the Inua Farm, currently brimming with corn. The farm is used to train youth about safe agri-business while increasing food security. It is an important part of the program, one which we are working to expand.   We (all 15 of us – 5 Kenyans and 10 missioners) enjoyed a late lunch at Ken Gen before the rains came pouring down.  We made it back to the hotel in the late afternoon for a few meetings about the new mentor training program and graduation prep.

The youth are growing nicely. The crops in the farm are growing nicely. Our team, our understanding of this mission and our vision for Inua is growing nicely.  

God is good all the time. All the time, God is good.

Kenya Mission Team A, Day 5

“I am so happy. Thank you so much. I have never felt so, so happy.”  –  Phoebe, Zone 2 

We spent today focused on the youth in Zone 2, a region about 30 minutes from the center of Naivasha. We were met by Margaret, Joseph and David, the awesome mentors for Zone 2. Their groups had so much to share. The Fashion & Design Youth showed off custom dresses and curtains from their new businesses. Hairdressing & Salon graduates were excited to provide tours of their new shops. We heard about new motorbike repair businesses, new electrical repair and plumbing repair businesses and several new hospitality graduates eager to open their own cafes. 

We captured as many stories as we could on video and took many pictures. One member of our team, Loran, got to meet her prayer partner, Francis.  It was awesome to witness their joy. There was singing, dancing, hugging, smiling and love shared all around.  

Mixed among the Cycle 3 graduating youth were a few prospective Cycle 4 newcomers. Meeting them made it easy to contrast the challenges of youth not in the program with youth in the program.  Inua transforms lives, this we can be sure.  

We got an in-depth walking tour of the neighbor and  visited with a few of the youth’s businesses including the Florida Salon & Cosmetic, owned and operated by Rose, a Cycle 3 graduate.  We popped in on Paul as he was working on a painting job and stopped by Phoebe’s Café where we all enjoyed her freshly baked mandazi (a sweet fried bread).  We later enjoyed a delicious lunch at Lily’s Café, an Inua graduate from Cycle 2 who will also be catering Friday’s graduation reception.  We are filled with joy and happiness to see so many youth who have transformed into healthy, happy young adults able to provide for themselves and others.  

We filled the late afternoon with meetings with Inua’s Kenya Staff about an expansion to the agribusiness program and graduation preparations.

After much prayer and deliberation we have decided to hold Sunday worship services as normal. Should our region be placed under a Tropical Storm Warning at any time following this communication, services will be cancelled.

Worship Times:

Traditional Service – 8:00 & 11:00am
Contemporary Service – 9:30am

As we watch and anticipate Dorian’s landfall in Florida, please continue to be vigilant in your preparations. Are you ready? Here is a simple checklist of things to have.