This weekend is SHINE Commitment Sunday! It is a truly historic moment in the life of GRACE church! For almost two years, our congregation has been praying, dreaming, meeting, and planning – and it is finally our moment to SHINE.
On Sunday, we will come forward and make our commitments for the SHINE Vision and Campaign to build our new campus on Hecktown Road. As I announced this past Sunday, a small group of our members made advanced commitments of $9.3 million. That’s a great start! But, we have a long way to go to meet our $15-$20 million goal. And, it will take every single one of us to live into that vision if we are to see it become reality.
As we have discussed over the last weeks, the SHINE commitment is over and above our annual giving. Some of you have asked when we will make our commitments to the 2020 annual budget. We will do that in January. And, those commitments need to be strong to keep our mission and ministry strong.
The SHINE Commitments, we will make on Sunday, are the gifts that will build our new campus, including worship space, community space, next generation space, fellowship space, mission space and a memorial garden. Our gifts will give us a place to invite people in the Lehigh Valley for generations to find and follow Jesus. Our gifts on Sunday are an investment in our church’s long legacy. I believe God is leading us to a once in a lifetime opportunity for us to give like we have never given before to make a spiritual impact like we have never made before on the Valley. The kind of impact we can’t even begin to imagine.
As a reminder, our gifts will be made over 3-years, a total of 36 months starting December 1 of this year. That covers 4 tax years. Importantly, the commitments we make will determine what we will be able to build. We will only build what we can afford.
I am praying for 100% commitment of all our GRACE family. I am praying that we will all grow deeper in our faith as we prayerfully and sacrificially give. And I am praying that we will reach our very ambitious goal, all to the glory of God.
Join me in praying for this Sunday. If you haven’t gotten a pledge card, they will be available on Sunday morning. It continues to be thrilling to sit on the front row of God’s work unfolding here at GRACE. I believe we will look back on this moment for years to come as the moment that propelled us into God’s plan for the Lehigh Valley and beyond. Let’s SHINE!
Your pastor and friend,
Dr. Marnie Crumpler, Senior Pastor