Messiah Lutheran Church • 5200 Mayfield Rd., Lyndhurst, OH 44124 • 440-442-6941
#MM249 - Dear Church, 500 years ago our origin as Lutherans began to become clear. The Holy Spirit was at work, reforming hearts and minds in an era of profound social change, making way for new ways to live out the faith. We trust that God is still at work similarly in our lives today, constantly reforming us and drawing us back to the roots of divine grace. Come celebrate such grace this weekend with festival worship in our brightest, fiery red colors.
🔴 Bulletin for 10-27-24: https://bit.ly/ReformationSunday2024-MLC
🔴 Pledge Sunday: bring your blue pledge card to worship this Sunday as we together support the ministry of the Gospel at Messiah this coming year. If you need a pledge card, extras are available on the table in the gathering area by the sanctuary. See attached stewardship letter for more details.
🔴 Counting Team Participants Needed: Please contact Tom Griffith if you are interested in joining the counting team.
🔴 Thanksgiving Food Drive – October 27 through November 17: To benefit the Tri-C East Campus Food Pantry. Please place your items on the donation table by the church back entry.
🔴 Reformation Potluck Luncheon – October 27: All are invited for an intergenerational celebration of the Reformation and the changing seasons. After worship come gather in the fellowship hall for a potluck lunch. The Connections Team will provide hot dogs, brats, veggie sausages, drinks, and pierogi. Bring a side dish, salad, or dessert to share. (Note: you do not have to bring a dish, ALL are welcome). As we eat we will hear from Albie Nicol, the vicar at Peace Lutheran Church in Cleveland Heights. Albie will share about “Being Lutheran in Contemporary Society”. After lunch, stick around for the fun as we create mason jar luminaries to bring light in this season. Don’t forget to wear red – the color of the Holy Spirit moving among us in continued Reformation – as we grow and celebrate.
🔴 Budget Review & Listening Sessions – November 3 and November 17: President Ben Johnson will be hosting budget sessions on Sunday, November 3 and Sunday, November 17 directly after worship (approx. 11:30am). A budget summary sheet will be issued with the Messiah Missive each week through these dates.
🔴 Annual Congregational Meeting – December 8: Open church council seats and the 2025 budget will be addressed.
Dear Church, As we've reached the halfway point of the season, I wanted to update the Congregation on the financial status of the church. As you might remember, at last year's Congregational Meeting in November, the Congregation voted to accept a church budget that included a $40,000 shortfall by the end of the year. At the halfway point of the year, I'm pleased to say that we're doing better than the expected $20,000 deficit, but we are still carrying a significant ($11,000) shortfall through the month of May. So far, this hasn't impacted our ability to offer the various services and activities that we at Messiah value for the life of our church, but the financial crunch here is real and will only become more pressing as we move through the year. For some context on how the budget has reached this point, we can look back at 2018 and 2019 when the incoming funds (almost completely driven by giving from the Congregation) were on a downward trend. Starting in 2020, however, the church was able to benefit from the federal Payroll Protection Plan Program (PPPP). From 2020 to 2022, we were able to offset a considerable amount of the church's payroll (the money paid to employees of the church which makes up the largest part of our annual budget) with loans that, with the right paperwork, did not have to be repaid. The budget surplus carried into 2023 by these loans allowed last year to also benefit from that relief as well. But here in 2024, we are outside the shadow of the PPPP and once again completely reliant on your giving to sustain the activities and mission of the church. Your Church Council is currently exploring ways to supplement the church's giving income by leveraging the building and facilities that sit vacant for most of the week, and we hope to have more news to present on this in the fall. In addition, we're contemplating additional Committee opportunities to present to the Congregation to hopefully drive additional engagement in the life of the church outside of just monetary donations.
That said, although the summer months are usually quieter for the church as we all engage in various activities, I would request that you and your family take a moment to consider your giving and think about enrolling in the automatic giving program (that automatically receives your gifts weekly) or adjusting your current giving amount as you are able. This can be a difficult ask given the current economic instability in our community, but your giving goes to more than just keeping the doors open and making sure there is a sermon given every Sunday. All of the church's Committees and programs rely on your input to sustain the life of the church and provide the kind of church life you want to see for Messiah. The number of instances of giving is trending downward this year as our Congregation changes and evolves, but each of us has an opportunity to support the church in the best way we see fit to keep Messiah Lutheran Church vibrant and welcoming.
As always, it is an honor to serve as your Congregational Council President, and I look forward to sharing additional positive updates with you soon.
Best regards,
Ben Johnson / Church Council President