November 2025
Dear Christ Church Family,
Worship. Learning. Meals shared. Fellowship. Prayer. Pooled resources. Miracles. Every need met.
This is a small but mighty snapshot we get in Acts 2 describing the early church. We see the love of God spilling over the edges of human life, turning ordinary meals into communion, possessions into provisions, and strangers into family. It was a vibrant, alternative community of people so alive in Christ that sharing became second nature.
Here at Christ Church, we are learning to live that same story. Every time we offer our prayers, our skills, our time, and our money, we participate in generosity - that Acts 2 way of life, love becoming embodied. Our participation helps the church be what it was meant to be: not merely an organization with programs, but a household where grace is exchanged, burdens are carried, and joy abounds.
Every year we set aside time as a parish to think and pray about giving and reaffirm our commitment to share our lives with one another through sacrificial generosity. It’s a time to reflect on the ways God has blessed us and how he may be inviting us to meet the needs of our community and be the blessing He calls us to be. Together, we’ll have an opportunity to express our intentions in the form of a pledge with the card enclosed.
Why Pledge?
Our pledge is a thank offering to the Lord and a way of saying, “I’m a part of this story. I’m committed to this particular place and people that God has joined me to. I trust Jesus when he says ‘it’s better to give than receive.’” It’s a spiritual practice of offering up our lives, resources, and gifts back to God and letting him shape us into the image of Christ. Practically, it also helps the church plan and steward financial resources.
Our financial resources support the work of God in our community, our city, and beyond. Christ Church supports a number of discipleship opportunities for this parish as well as missions that bring the whole gospel to the world, including 10 different organizations in the US and 6 that work among unreached people groups internationally.
Celebration Sunday!
On November 16th, we’ll have a moment to bring our individual pledge cards to the Lord’s Table as a tangible expression of our intention to be a generous community.. It’s no accident that we bring our gifts to the same place we receive the bread and wine. The Eucharist is God’s great act of sharing—His own life given, broken, and poured out for us. When we give, we join that pattern. Our gifts become a kind of prayer, a thank-you, an echo of Christ’s self-giving love that sustains the world. That’s why we call it Celebration Sunday!
Jesus shared his very life. Paul writes that “though He was in the form of God, He did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage, but emptied Himself” (Philippians 2:6–7). Every time we open our hands and share what we have, we are simply following in his footsteps — learning to do as he did.
May His pattern become ours, as we love and serve the Lord together.
Grace & Peace,
Matt Dampier+, Clay Davis (Sr Warden), Billy Hollis (Jr Warden), Natalie Coulter, Hannah Diller, Kyle Frazier, Sarah Hadd, Amy McLaughlin, Pete Newell
Pledge Card for Celebration Sunday 2025
Generosity is one of Christ Church’s core values. We believe that Jesus gave everything for us, demonstrating God’s extravagant grace. We respond with sacrificial generosity by giving of our gifts, abilities, time, and money to God, His people, and His work. We open our arms, our hearts, and our homes with generous love. We encourage you to pray through these questions. Talk about it with friends and family, including your children! How can my giving this year express gratitude and trust in the Lord? Where in our parish do I feel called to serve or get involved? What gifts or passions have God given me to bless my church and neighbors? Use the other side of the card to indicate the ways you sense the Lord’s invitation to live generously through your finances, time and gifts.