Stewardship Appeal 2024
Our 2024 Annual Campaign boils down to one elegant equation:
Abundant Welcome + Abundant Love = Gloria Dei’s Mission.
For 70 years our shared work has been an answer to this one equation. With Gloria Dei’s trademark joy, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit, we have worked to be the kind of people who express a wide open welcome, even as we love and care for our neighbors. From the warm welcome experienced walking through the door on a Sunday morning, to the authentic community offered in the Looking Within Center or at Children’s Ministry events, our welcome is unconditional and hospitality abundant. We also share abundant love with our neighbors through our little pantry, our in-house clothing boutique “Threads,” through our youth service trips and more. We are so thankful for Gloria Dei as together we embody the answer to the above equation.
We invite you to become partners in answering this equation as we live out our mission together and invest in three specific ways:
Abundant Welcome
Let’s send our invitation even further and add some extra seats at the table!
One Sunday last Spring the Garden Lounge was filled with the Gloria Dei Community sharing some egg bake and pastries. While some finished their coffee, a few kids jockeyed for the last donut. It was a good morning, with excellent food and conversation. In the aftermath of the pandemic, we don’t take these meals for granted anymore. For this reason, we have had more meals, brunches, and coffee hours than ever. Like the early disciples, we have discovered Christ in the breaking of bread. With your generosity we can continue to grow deeper connections through even more shared meals and food. We will also be able to extend our invitation and welcome through expanded marketing efforts so that more people can experience Gloria Dei. In the upcoming year through intentional invitation, hospitality, and generosity, we can continue to build connections and grow the Gloria Dei community.
Abundant Love
Let’s meet the growing needs in our community and care for our neighbors.
In August a Rochester mom and her three kids set up an appointment to visit Threads, our in-house clothing boutique. By the time the family left, they were outfitted with several bags of new outfits for back-to-school. The kids were excited and mom was relieved.
A few weeks later we refilled our little pantry three times in two days as our neighbors needed some extra food to make ends meet. People are hungry, and thanks to our work they are finding some food to eat.
Jesus calls us to clothe the naked and feed the hungry, and Gloria Dei is doing just that. But the need is big, and we need to grow to match it. Thanks to your generosity in the year to come we can fund Threads and our Little Pantry with the equipment, supplies and growing volunteer needs. We are conduits of Christ’s abundant love, and our generous community can meet the growing needs around us.
MINISTRY EXCELLENCE
Let’s Keep it Going!
Our mission of welcome and love of neighbor is a team effort. From our vibrant worship services to the cutting edge work of the Looking Within Center, from the Gloria Dei Grill Out to Youth Service Trips, we are continually serving, reaching out, and leaving an open seat for a new friend to join us. Our team effort has enabled us to face a myriad of challenges ranging from a pandemic to inflation, and to face whatever comes our way together. We’ve come a long way over the past several years, and this is no time to take our “foot off the gas.” Your generosity and support helps us to keep our nimble, creative, entrepreneurial ministry growing and moving forward.