Faith Brings Us Together & Leads Us Forward
While our hearts in faith know this to be true – that our Creator redeems and sustains us – our experiences of the past handful of years have made it difficult to perceive that reality. We’ve all struggled with significant changes within our families, our communities, our country, and the world. Despite the repercussions of so many changing factors, God’s love is constant and promises are true.
“For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. “
We’ve spent the past year committing ourselves to igniting our faith and engaging with our church family. Encouraged by our church leadership and nurtured by this community, we reinvested in everyday ministry, our congregation, and our service to God’s kingdom. Last year’s stewardship drive, Engage, brought us together, establishing a foundation from which active faith can thrive.
As God continues to call us, we remain steadfast in our commitment and passion to let faith lead us on!
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
Everyone at Our Savior’s Lutheran works on building and sustaining their faith in Jesus. Let us continue to work together to lift up our faith and unite in God’s message and mission. Our goal in 2023 is to affix Our Savior’s growing congregation upon God’s rock with expanded opportunities to deepen our connection to Christ and with events geared towards connecting with and loving one another as God intended.
As we deepen our connections, we also recognize that faith is an infinite loop that both feeds us and prepares us to give and connect with those in greater need. Our efforts, therefore, must be a reflection of giving and receiving. Therefore, in addition to new internal congregational opportunities and events, we will expand our visibility to those around us in need. In our efforts to embrace one another in our common purpose – Bible Based, Saved by Grace, Serving with Jesus Everyplace – let’s expand our reach to surrounding communities with our time, attention, and God’s love!
Ambitions for 2023
Together we took steps to Engage Active faith in 2022. It is now time to take that Engagement to the next level, to Embrace one another and Expand God’s love into our surrounding community and beyond. By allowing faith to guide us, Our Savior’s Evangelical Lutheran Church will steward your increased gifts to carry out Christ’s command – love one another as I have loved you. Our goal is to invest $30,000 more in our church and community this next year, through your generous giving. Here’s how we will use those additional gifts.
Engage Our Faith ($7,000)
— — — — — — — — — —
In 2022, we developed six Engagement Pathways that emphasized opportunities to take active steps in faith, allowing Jesus to continually form us. These pathways represent the fundamental pillars of Our Savior’s, opening our eyes and hearts to the plan God has for us. As we all continue this walk in faith, we stand in the light of God and encourage others to engage their faith as well.
Recently, we began a message of welcome by reaching out to prospective members with information , welcome gifts and an invitation to engage in our fundamental pathways. In 2023, we will build off of these initial Welcome and Invitation activities to broaden our reach, introducing Our Savior’s to the multitude of families living in and moving into our surrounding communities and inviting them to join with us to engage their faith through active steps with Jesus. Funding will propel activities such as:
Admission fees and give-away items for community events
Printing and distributing flyers
Purchasing and delivering welcome gifts
Mailing invitations for Sunday worship and events
Sunday hospitality
Embrace One Another ($7,000)
— — — — — — — — — —
Jesus sat with so many individuals and groups to share a meal, to walk, to celebrate, and to be together in prayer. His time with others was a gift that ushered in peace when there was pain, love when there was hatred, and hope when there was only despair. It is during these times of celebration, joy, laughter, and tears that solidify us as one body – one family bonded through Christ. In 2023, we will set our sights on a number of half-day to full-day events that provide opportunities to grow together as a family, interweaving our lives and our faith to foster the warmth,
love, and tenderness that emanates from our collective faith in Jesus. Building on the enriching and entertaining events over this past year, such as ax throwing, bowling, beer tasting, tailgate, and others, we will continue to create opportunities to embrace one another amongst life’s celebrations and life’s tears. Some events will be celebratory, like our “Fall Festivus” celebration this year, and others will serve as a deepening spiritual commitment to God and each other, perhaps a spiritual event to enrich our community or a day long exploration of God’s next chapter in our lives.
Expand God’s Love ($8,000)
— — — — — — — — —
The love of God we experience here is needed outside our walls now more than ever. We have answered God’s call to build beds, fill backpacks, provide meals, shelter homeless families, and donate blood. In 2023, we will continue the robust outreach initiatives for these foundational works while we extend outreach opportunities to reach our neighbors in Southeastern Wisconsin. We envision a concept of coordinating several “Ministry Days,” which would bring a group of Our Savior’s members to a location or organization in need, spending a half-day or a full day committed to lending a helping hand. At the end of the day, we will extend a donation to the organization of a meaningful dollar amount to help further their own aims within God’s mission.
Staff Addition ($8,000)
— — — — — — — — —
Across all of the initiatives that will allow us to Engage, Embrace, and Expand, we need to empower the pastors to lead us through each step to facilitate a deepening in our spiritual growth and a strengthening of our faith. In order for them to be fully focused on these congregational needs, we will add a part-time secretarial staff position whose role will be to provide organizing, printing, and other administrative responsibilities. This addition will be of great assistance to redirect these tasks, further freeing up the pastors to focus on shepherding God’s plan for Our Savior’s.
