September 24, 2023

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Dear Resurrection Family,

God’s grace and peace to you! At ECR we receive God’s grace in Jesus Christ in Word and Sacrament and share that grace with one another and the world in a myriad of ways. God has richly blessed us this past year with increased attendance, growth in outreach ministries, another stellar year for the Resurrection Players, significant property improvements, and in many other ways—praise God! We also have many exciting things coming up as well—please see the enclosed “Upcoming Events 2023-2024.”

By God’s grace we have made great progress financially over the past two years. To balance the budget for 2023, last year we asked you to consider increasing your pledge by 15%--and your response was amazing as pledges increased from $430,000 to $525,000—way to go! As all of us fulfill our pledges for this year we will finish “in the black.” Your generosity shone again earlier this year in our ECR Second Chance effort as we raised over $550,000 in gifts and pledges to go directly toward the principal of the $1.7 million ECR mortgage with the Diocese of Central Florida. We have already received over $268,000 of this, with the remainder to come in by the end of 2025. Due to your amazing response the diocese is allowing us two more years of paying minimal interest only (1.5%) on the balance of the mortgage as we will submit large principal payments at the end of 2023, 2024 and 2025 as those gifts and pledges are received at ECR. Therefore, we are not asking for an increase in your pledge for 2024 but rather that you please maintain your current giving level through 2024. If we all do this, we will again have a balanced budget while also making significant progress on retiring the mortgage.

God could not be any more generous in his love—“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (John 3:16). Jesus taught us how to respond to God’s generosity—“Freely you have received; freely give” (Matthew 10:8). In scripture we are also exhorted to respond individually and cheerfully: “Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). Since Jesus taught us to give “in secret” (Matthew 6:2-4), at ECR your pledge amount will only be known to God, yourself, and our amazing financial administrator, Jill Chester. A 2024 pledge card is enclosed. We humbly ask that pledges be submitted by Wednesday, November 1. You can submit your pledge in person, mail it, pledge via our website (resurrectionlongwood.org), or email your pledge amount directly to Jill Chester (jchester@resurrectionlongwood.org ). It remains a joy and privilege to worship and serve alongside you. As always, lots of love and prayers for you.

Grace upon Grace,


The Rec Dr. Dave Johnson, Rector