Greetings Family and Friends of Grace Wesleyan!
We are in the final two weeks of the calendar year and for many this is a time to consider end of the year giving to our favorite charities and to fulfill our pledges to our church and any other philanthropic causes.
At Grace Wesleyan we are grateful for the dedication and discipleship shown by the majority of our members. Thank you for your faithful giving throughout the year! While we don’t know for sure where God will lead us in the future, we are managing our resources in a way to make sure we are able to have the things we need now, in our current circumstance, and to be able to provide for what we may need should a move become necessary. Your continued giving will aid in that regard.
Also, at Grace Wesleyan we decided to be a part of a limited number of ministry and mission efforts for the sake of making a real difference anywhere we participate. Thus, the four major missions we support are GEMS, Helping Hands Food Pantry, Tony’s Helping Hands, and Hope South Florida. We consider these ministries to be “above and beyond” giving. That means that giving to those ministries is done after you fulfill your tithes to the general fund of Grace Wesleyan.
There is one other type of giving that is common during Advent and the end of the year, as well as during Lent. It is called alms giving. Alms are money, food, or other material goods donated to people living in poverty. We don’t have the space or capacity to accept material goods, but we do participate in the donations to those in poverty through two separate opportunities at Grace Wesleyan. The first is through Hope South Florida. For a limited time, there is an opportunity to have all funds donated to HSF to be matched dollar for dollar. If you wish to make an almsgiving donation to HSF and have it matched, you can make a donation to Hope South Florida directly before December 31st to have it qualify for the match.
At Grace Wesleyan, we have started a benevolence fund that was seeded by a member of our church with $1000. This is to be used to assist screened and vetted individuals that we find are in specific need and just need a hand up, not a hand out. If you choose to give to the church benevolence fund, you can do so as alms giving (meaning above and beyond giving—not in place of regular tithe).
As we close out 2021, we trust God will lead you to the places where your giving can do the most good beyond your tithes to Grace Wesleyan. We thank you for your faithfulness and your dedication to the Body of Christ here in Fort Lauderdale and beyond.
Merry Christmas, and may God provide for you richly in the coming new year!
Grace and peace to you,
Pastor Myron Rhodes, Jr., Dr. Fred Scarbrough, and the Leadership Council