It's that time of year again. The time when we conduct our annual Stewardship Campaign. But wait! This year's going to be a bit different. After much thoughtful discussion, the Finance Committee has decided that we won't be doing a traditional campaign at all. Not because we don't think stewardship is important; of course it is. But, we believe that stewardship isn't just a once a year venture, it's something we all do in many ways on a year-round basis. And it's not just about giving financially. It's also about sharing our talents, our time and much more. So, this year we want to replace the annual Stewardship Campaign with something a little simpler: Stewardship Planning for the 2012 budget year. We think that people usually give what they can and we all tend to follow our hearts in deciding what to give to the church. This is a personal decision that each one of us makes.

Above you will find an Estimate of Giving form. Some givers choose to complete the form while others do not. Whatever you are most comfortable with is what you should do. The reason we send them out to you each year is that having completed Estimate of Giving forms helps the Finance Committee a great deal in preparing our annual budget. If you choose to complete the form, please try and return it to the church by December 11th. This will allow us time to prepare the 2012 budget by the first of the year. To ensure your confidentiality, the Estimate of Giving form should be returned to our Financial Secretary, Dan Gustafson. You may'send the form to the church, marked to Dan's attention or put it in an envelope and drop it in the offering plate at a Sunday service.

One thing I'd like to remind you about is that this year the Church Council has approved matching any member's giving which is greater in 2012 than in 2011. For example, a member who contributed $2,000 in 2011, but who gives $3,000 in 2012 will have the additional $1,000 matched with money from the earnings of the Endowment Fund. This means that the $3,000 giftwill actually mean $4,000 for the church's operating budget. This is an opportunity for your generosity to have an even bigger impact on meeting the church's financial commitments.

Speaking of our financial commitments, if you're interested in a "big picture" look at our revenue and expenditures, on the back of this letter is a chart that may be helpful. If you're interested in further details of our financial position, the latest monthly financial report is posted on the bulletin board in Fellowship Hall.

Barbara Huson

Finance Committee Chairperson