Dear Members and Friends of Redeemer City,

I hope you are having a wonderful Advent season. As you contemplate your end-of-the-year giving, I wanted to make you aware of some of the things in and around the church that you might consider giving to. God is doing so much for us and through us.

Redeemer General Fund. Like most non-profits, a considerable amount of our annual income comes in during December – roughly 35%. Churches and non-profits are forced to live each year by faith. This year, however, we are around $50,000 under projections coming into December. The reason for this is that we planted a church in February. One of the costs of planting was this loss of income from the previous year. It usually takes 18-24 months for a “mother” church to recover financially from planting. So not only do we need to have a normal December, but we’d also like to make up this ground.

Sacrificial Mission Offering. This offering helps fund all of our local and international mission partners that are not church planting efforts. There are “Sacrificial Mission Offering” envelopes at the church office or in the pews on Sundays. If you would like to help with our support of these ministries, just place your gift in one of these envelopes and put it in an offering box in the sanctuary.

Renew Polk. In 2016, we launched a joint church planting venture with the other PCA churches in Polk county. Our goal is to plant 20 new churches all over the county in the next 20 years. Renew Polk exists as a funding and resourcing mechanism for this church planting strategy. In the first 20 years (since Trinity PCA began) we planted 5 churches. We are currently, RIGHT NOW, planting 5 churches! Renew Polk is our attempt to fund these churches from the like-minded believers within Polk County who have seen first hand the power of church planting. You can give to Renew Polk by making checks out to “Renew Polk” and dropping them in the offering boxes in the sanctuary.

Heart For Winter Haven. We launched H4WH out of Redeemer in 2014 under the leadership of Brad Beatty. In the first 2-3 years, Heart for Winter Haven has powerfully connected churches, non-profits, and business leaders in Winter Haven in strategic problem-solving efforts towards needs like: food insecurity, chronic unemployment and under-employment, and other community development issues. Brad is doing tremendous work. He is fully supported by the generosity of our community. You can give to H4WH online at www.heart4wh.org or by sending your gift to 228 Ave C SW, Winter Haven, 33880.

Savant-Sweet Scholarship Fund. When we were gifted our facility from Covenant Presbyterian Church, we also inherited a scholarship fund that had been started by some of the members of Covenant. The Savant-Sweet Scholarship exists to provide scholarships to men and women preparing for gospel ministry by attending Bible college and seminary. Each year we give out close to $30K in scholarships. This is a wonderful ministry of our church. Any contributions make it possible for us to increase our scholarship commitments. You can give to the Savant-Sweet scholarship simply by requesting that your gift be designated to the scholarship.

On January 8, at our congregational meeting following the service, we will give you an update on how God has provided in each of these areas.

See all of the fruit being born of your sacrifice and kindness! Be encouraged! You are a generous church. I am praying God continues to cause us to excel in this grace (2 Cor 8:7).

Merry Christmas,

Drew Bennett, Pastor