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Will You Answer The Call?
November 6, 2005
Dear members and friends of my First Baptist Church family,
As a relative newcomer to First Baptist Church, I want to
express my thankfulness to God for leading me here, to Karen
Murray for the role she played in encouraging me to come here
and to all of you for making me feel welcome and even useful here.
One of my observations of this church is that it’s full of good stewards. This is a
very active and alive congregation that provides numerous and varied opportunities for
people to get involved and be helpful. Everyone is expected to contribute and it appears
to me that everyone does. As I look around at all of the faces that make up this church
family, it’s easy for me to think of ways I’ve seen each person play their part.
I’ve also observed that the people in leadership roles aren’t shy about asking you to
get involved in one way or another. I recall the first request I got shortly after
becoming a church member was to join the choir. My son Sean was standing next to
me when that suggestion was made and he laughed out loud. You can all consider
yourselves fortunate that I didn’t answer that call.
There have been subsequent request where I’ve felt that I could actually make a
positive contribution, and I’m grateful for the opportunities. One thing I was asked to
help out with early this year was getting the bills paid. I’ve always relished the chance
to get inside how an organization is using its financial resources and then suggesting
ways to eliminate waste and improve the financial position of the organization. It’s
generally pretty easy pickings to find at least 10% of expenses can be eliminated without
causing any negative impact. Much to my dismay, and joy, I didn’t find that here.
The budget process here is thorough and thoughtful and every effort is made to
operate within the budget. Despite this very frugal approach that currently exists, it’s
still a constant battle to be able to cover the bills as they come in. We’re in the next to
last month of the year right now and while expenses are right on track with what was
budgeted, it’s a struggle to be able to cover the bills as they come in because
contributions are not on track with what was expected.
As we approach Thanksgiving and you contemplate all of the things you have to be
thankful for, I imagine First Baptist Church will make your list. And as we approach
Christmas and we get caught up in the spirit of giving, I encourage you to make a gift
that helps make up the shortfall in contributions we’ve experienced this year.
Finally, as you consider your pledge for next year and figure out what is the right
amount for you to pledge, do a little more than that. There are endless opportunities for
this church to do God’s work and it would be wonderful if we could say “Yes, we can
help” to more of them.
Sincerely,
Bob Sullivan
Dear members and friends of my First Baptist Church family,
As a relative newcomer to First Baptist Church, I want to
express my thankfulness to God for leading me here, to Karen
Murray for the role she played in encouraging me to come here
and to all of you for making me feel welcome and even useful here.
One of my observations of this church is that it’s full of good stewards. This is a
very active and alive congregation that provides numerous and varied opportunities for
people to get involved and be helpful. Everyone is expected to contribute and it appears
to me that everyone does. As I look around at all of the faces that make up this church
family, it’s easy for me to think of ways I’ve seen each person play their part.
I’ve also observed that the people in leadership roles aren’t shy about asking you to
get involved in one way or another. I recall the first request I got shortly after
becoming a church member was to join the choir. My son Sean was standing next to
me when that suggestion was made and he laughed out loud. You can all consider
yourselves fortunate that I didn’t answer that call.
There have been subsequent request where I’ve felt that I could actually make a
positive contribution, and I’m grateful for the opportunities. One thing I was asked to
help out with early this year was getting the bills paid. I’ve always relished the chance
to get inside how an organization is using its financial resources and then suggesting
ways to eliminate waste and improve the financial position of the organization. It’s
generally pretty easy pickings to find at least 10% of expenses can be eliminated without
causing any negative impact. Much to my dismay, and joy, I didn’t find that here.
The budget process here is thorough and thoughtful and every effort is made to
operate within the budget. Despite this very frugal approach that currently exists, it’s
still a constant battle to be able to cover the bills as they come in. We’re in the next to
last month of the year right now and while expenses are right on track with what was
budgeted, it’s a struggle to be able to cover the bills as they come in because
contributions are not on track with what was expected.
As we approach Thanksgiving and you contemplate all of the things you have to be
thankful for, I imagine First Baptist Church will make your list. And as we approach
Christmas and we get caught up in the spirit of giving, I encourage you to make a gift
that helps make up the shortfall in contributions we’ve experienced this year.
Finally, as you consider your pledge for next year and figure out what is the right
amount for you to pledge, do a little more than that. There are endless opportunities for
this church to do God’s work and it would be wonderful if we could say “Yes, we can
help” to more of them.
Sincerely,
Bob Sullivan
