Dear Church Family,
I want to thank all of you for your gifts, cards, and words of encouragement during Pastor Appreciation Month. Your support and encouragement mean more to me than you know. I appreciate each one of you and what you do to make Hoffman UMC what it is today—a church that embraces people in God’s love.
I know that many of you had the opportunity to travel in October. It is great to have everyone back home. October was also a month of traveling for me and Chanda. We spent our weekends out of town. We went to visit my mother in Evansville, Indiana. We visited my family back in Portsmouth. We went to the Pumpkin Show in Circleville. Then, we visited my brother at Morehead State University. We had a great time visiting with family and friends, but with all the driving, we are exhausted. We are hoping to find some time to slow down in November.
We will be entering into a new sermon series in November, entitled “Lessons for a Recession.” There is no doubt that our economy has suffered in the past several years. It has affected our nation, our church, and our very lives. The economists have called what we are experiencing a recession. I believe that in the midst of this recession, God has some lessons that will help us. Lessons that tell us how to live in tough times, and lessons that teach us how to handle our finances. Actually, the Bible talks about money more than it does prayer and many other subjects. Jesus taught about money more than any other topic except for the Kingdom of God. During the month of November, we will be learning God’s lessons for the recession.
One of the lessons of the scripture is that we are to give God a tithe of our income. A tithe is 10%. We are invited to live on 90% of what God has provided and give 10% to our church, investing in God’s ministry on earth. This November 6th, we are going to be having Prove the Tithe Day. This is a Sunday where we invite everyone in the church to give at least 10% of their income during our offering. This is not a long term commitment. It is simply a chance for you to give 10%, trusting that God will make the 90% sufficient to live on. We hope that EVERYONE—children, youth, and adults—will consider taking part in this special day of proving the tithe at Hoffman. Let’s see what God can do through our investments!
As you know, we are planning to begin a second service at Hoffman in 2012. We are hoping to reach people in our community who are not currently involved in church. Our team has been meeting and working hard to make plans for this service. We are going to be meeting at least three times in the month of November. We need your help! If you are interested in helping with this new service effort in anyway, please let me know. We need everyone’s prayer and support to make this new service a success.
In May, I submitted a Grant Application to the West Ohio Annual Conference for our 2012 revitalization efforts. As a result of this grant proposal, we just received notification that the annual conference has decided to invest in Hoffman by giving us a grant of $13,400. We will be using the funds to assist with our new service, our discipleship program, and a church wide study that we will be doing later this year.
November is a busy time for our church. We are going to be hosting a Mission Breakfast on November 6th at 8:00 AM to raise money for “Wings of the Morning,” which is an aviation ministry that brings healthcare, medical supplies, pastors, and missions teams to people who live in areas where there are no roads for transportation. We will also be hosting our Annual Election Day Dinner (November 8th) and Craft Show (November 19th).
November also means Advent is coming, Christmas is just around the corner, and that our snowbirds will be leaving us to go to Florida. Since December is a busy month, I thought I would give you a few “save the dates” for your calendar—Christmas Party (10th), Children’s Choir Program (11th), and Pastor’s Open House (18th). We will also have our two Christmas Eve Services at 7 and 10, and since Christmas Day falls on a Sunday this year, we will have our special Lessons and Carols Service on December 25th.
As I look back over everything that we have accomplished in 2011, I am so grateful to be a part of Hoffman United Methodist Church. Our ministries to children have continued to have a positive impact on our community. Our facility is in use by many community organizations. We have seen our building debt go down significantly in the past year. All of this was made possible through your support. Hoffman United Methodist Church exists because YOU have invested in this church. You have supported this church with your time, talents, and treasure throughout this year. We are grateful for all that we have been able to do through your investment in Hoffman.
As many of you know, November is also a time when we invite you to make a commitment to continue investing in the ministries of Hoffman. We invite you to do so by filling out a Pledge Card (attached at the bottom). Pledge Sunday is November 20th. Last year, about 46% of our giving units turned in pledge cards. This year we are setting the goal at 60%. Pledge cards are important because they give our leadership an idea of what our income will be in the coming year. I hope that you will prayerfully consider filling out a pledge card and bringing it to church with you on Sunday, November 20th or mailing it to the church to the attention of Joy Paulus, our financial secretary.
As I mentioned earlier, the recession that we have experienced has touched our church as well as our lives. As I looked over our finances, I noticed that over the past five years we have experienced a steady decline in giving (see the chart) that matches the economic recession. As a result of this reality, we have worked hard this year to make wise financial decisions. The communication between our committees and staff regarding finances is better than ever before. We are working to be good stewards of what you have given us. You may have noticed in the graph that I believe there is hope. I believe that we will begin to curb this downward trend in 2012 and our income will begin to rise again.
We hope that you will join us in making 2012 one of the most fruitful years in the history of Hoffman United Methodist Church!
Yours in Christ’s Service,
Pastor Justin Williams
We have some exciting things going on during the Advent Season this year. Our Christmas party will be on December 10th and the Children’s Choir Performance is on December 11th. We will also be having two services on Christmas Eve. Our 7 o’clock service provides the opportunity for families with children to worship and be home early. Our 10 o’clock candlelight service is a traditional service with the choir providing a musical Christmas celebration. 
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