Seed to Soil
As a church, we firmly believe that Generosity is God's heartbeat, and because of that, we desire to make it our reputation.
Our congregation has been gathering for more than 141 years. While we benefit from the generosity of those who preceded us, God invites us to help secure our financial future.
In 2006, we opened our new facility and incurred a $48,000 loan payment; the following year, the church split.
For 18 years, we’ve been tethered to debt of $2.4 millions dollars that equated to a monthly debt payment ranging from $48k to $17k
What if we could secure our future by eliminating our debt?
As the Elders and I have started to think about the future of our Church and what our legacy should be, we can’t seem to get past these words from the Prophet Haggai as the second Temple in Jerusalem was being built.
“The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory. And in this place, I will bring peace.” – Haggai 2:6-9
We hope and pray that this Church’s future is more significant than its past glory!
So how do we ensure the future glory of this house will be greater than its past?
We want to eliminate the debt.
What would we do with an extra $330,000 a year?
The Elders have sensed God calling us to eliminate the debt. This would allow us to focus on making an impact beyond the church. Eliminating the debt would enable the church to reallocate the annual mortgage payment and utilize our existing outreach funds to significantly invest in outreach. Planting this seed would create a harvest that would produce fruits for future generations.
• We desire to model as an organization the same behavior we expect of our families.
• By tithing 10% of our budget, we are communicating that we trust God and believe He can do more with our 90% than we can with all 100%.
• What if we leveraged our church as a place where students can develop real-world experience and gain valuable experience in ministry to serve as critical hires for other churches, churches we’re planting, or churches we’re helping?
• Strategically leverage our Sunday experiences and leadership pipeline to place people into church plants or churches needing leaders.
• The local church is the hope of the world; it’s the bride Jesus will return for. We desire to equip the Bride of Christ with more hands, feet, and the necessary resources to plant, grow, and sustain the Body of Christ in Ohio and beyond.
• We desire to bring more than just spiritual hope to Lake Country by creating a hub for freedom where our partners and allies can help those stuck in bondage. We desire to create a place dedicated to the restoration of women overcoming sex trafficking, sexual exploitation, sexual trauma, and addictions by providing them with a safe place to heal and a network of resources to facilitate their recovery and safe reintegration into the community.
• Partnering with the Hope Center out of Indiana, we would launch a Hope Center in Lake County (Painesville) as a beacon of hope for those seeking freedom.
• One of our values as a Church is Freedom; we desire every individual in Lake County to experience the Freedom of Christ, which requires Freedom from substance abuse.
• We desire to bring health and healing to Lake County by hiring a full-time staff member to oversee and ensure a faith-based recovery program is available every night of the week.
• Whether that’s increasing our investment in the 10-40 window, rebuilding church networks in Ukraine, planting more churches in Brazil, or helping keep pastors and ministry leaders healthy and whole through Refuge experiences. The truth is their ministry partners, and the vision God has given them depend on the faithfulness and generosity of the local church.
• In talking with our Ministry partners, we discovered that one of their greatest struggles is their ability to plan. Each of our Ministry partners operates yearly based on their ability to generate income to respond to needs and opportunities. What if Friends Church could commit to financial support for more than one year at a time? What would our partners do, and what risks would they take if they had our support? We desire to help steward the forcefully advancing kingdom through our partners by ensuring they have the resources and commitment from our local church to take new ground, sow into new areas, and reach more people.
Pray: Pray about how God wants you and your family/to sacrificially give over the next 12 months to sow seed into the Future of our Church.
Plan: Plan to sacrificially give as a one-time gift or in monthly installments.
Pledge: The best way to do this is to fill out the pledge card
Ways to give:
- One Time cash gift
- A monthly gift for 12 months
- Estate Planning
- Stocks
- Property
- Vehicle
Fill out or bring your "Seed to Soil" offering on Sunday, May 5th. If you're making a 12-month pledge, please consider giving a 10% first-fruits offering on Pledge Sunday.
FAQ's
Yes! Emphatically yes. We serve a big God who invites us to trust him and promises that He will do “immeasurably more than we can ever ask or imagine.”
Yes, our Church operates on the faithful tithes of those who call Friends Church home. The Seed to Soil Capital Campaign will be funded through what the Bible calls an “offering.” It is meant to be a gift given beyond one’s tithes.
There is no better time to start being generous than now! Your generosity allows us to provide opportunities for people from all walks of life to experience community, learn, and serve together. You can give securely online and manage your recurring donations with our online giving platform by clicking the link below: https://fcwh.churchcenter.com/giving
The campaign will run for 12 months. You may give weekly, monthly, or a one-time gift.
Don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team by emailing future@whfriends.org