In 2018 we are investing $1,366,411 in God’s mission.
Our Worship Life – $409,923 (30% of our budget)
In worship we discover grace and hope for our lives each day. Worship lifts our hearts, stirs our spirits and stretches our minds. In worship God speaks to us through the stories of our faith. God listens as we pray, lifting up our deepest needs and hopes. Our congregation looks forward to worship that gives thanks for God’s love and care in our lives and leads us into the coming week with renewed hope.
A team of leaders works together to make each Sunday meaningful. Many contribute behind the scenes – others out front. Our altar guild prepares the sanctuary with care. Ushers offer a warm welcome as we arrive.
Our chancel choir shares music that inspires and encourages us with grace and hope. Our 3rd service ensemble offers a distinctive musical take on the message of the day. We are blessed with exceptional music, and wonderful music leaders.
Your gifts help make possible sermons that deal with the humor, struggle and drama of everyday life. Each Sunday, our pastors seek to bring the resources of faith to bear on the questions and hopes of our time.
Worship is the life and breath of our congregation. It is where new friends discover a sense of welcome in God’s family, and where all are strengthened and encouraged in our faith. Your gifts make possible generous, hopeful and helpful worship throughout the year.
Caring for Our Community – $286,946 (21% of our budget)
Our lives include seasons of joy and pain, celebration and sadness. From the birth of a baby to times of illness or grief, we count on God’s grace to see us through.
Each week our Prayer Partners gather to lift up the needs and hopes of our church family, as shared in the Sunday prayer cards. Our pastors and parish nurse visit our church family not only when someone is in the hospital, but throughout the year. These visits take place every week and number in the hundreds. The new TLC Singers offer to lift their voices in song with friends who would welcome their caring and encouragement.
Our congregation serves an amazing range of people. We help dozens of families with funeral or memorial services, not only from within the church but from the community around us. Our Hospitality Committee includes more than a dozen volunteers who provide receptions after those same services. Our church staff works to ensure that these families know that they are welcomed and cared for in the midst of their loss.
We celebrate the gifts of new life and new relationships! We help encourage parents in the midst of the joys and the challenges children bring. We support couples seeking to be married, working to keep their relationships healthy, or facing the end of a marriage. We offer a monthly Parents’ Night Out, caring for about 40 children while their parents enjoy an evening together.
Your gifts help us reach out to our community with the same healing and hope that Jesus offered. Caring for others in everyday, ordinary life is one of the ways we live out God’s love for the world.
Local and World Outreach – $232,289 (17% of our budget)
Some of our best work takes place in places we will never see. Your gifts touch people we will never have the chance to know.
When a hurricane strikes, or the earth shakes, here at home or around the world, your gifts help provide relief and support to rebuild homes and lives. Whether those needs are the result of natural or human disasters we reach out with care and compassion to those in need.
Our congregation supports missionary work and educational efforts around the world, who seek to relieve hunger and hopelessness closer to home. We partner with other Churches, other faith communities, with hospitals, relief agencies and universities. We know that we can accomplish far more by working together than on our own.
The United Methodist Church is found in 58 countries, from the U.S. and Europe, to much of Africa and Southeast Asia. Your gifts support theological study and higher education across the globe. We provide scholarships for students from our own congregation and others as they look to find their way and make a difference in the world.
We contribute to the work of bishops, district superintendents, church boards and agencies, encouraging the mission and ministry of local churches in our diverse communities. We support Toberman Neighborhood Center and other local partners, providing food, shelter and transitional support to hundreds of families each year. Wherever we are, wherever we may go, we seek to follow Jesus’ invitation to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Children and Families – $437,252 (32% of our budget)
The needs and hopes of families are at the heart of our mission. From our youngest and smallest members, to middle and older adults, we believe that all are precious in God’s eyes.
Each week we help growing children learn lessons of faith and love to help carry them through their lives. Our Vacation Bible Camp reaches over 200 children each summer, and includes over 100 youth and adult volunteers to make it happen. Our junior and senior high youth take part in Sierra Service Project, giving a week of their summers in underserved communities across the western U.S. While there, they learn about themselves, each other and the world as they take part in hands-on mission. They also learn, grow, and have fun during the rest of the year!
We offer opportunities for spiritual growth and faith development through a range of Bible studies, book groups, retreats and other gatherings. Seminars on health & wellness, workshops on caregiving and grief support are open to the whole community. Musical concerts are also offered in our sanctuary throughout the year, free to all.
Our Children’s Christmas Eve service is the largest single worship service of the whole year, as the children sing, tell and act out the story of Christ’s birth. Our annual Easter Egg Hunt brings families together to share in joy, hope and good fun. Our Children’s Ministry leaders are an amazing and capable team! Your generosity helps literally thousands of people from across the South Bay experience God’s grace in a wonderful variety of ways.
