Stewardship
Lord, Grow My Passion to Serve You...
The day after Halloween, the Toys-R-Us catalog arrived in our Sunday paper. My seven and three year old boys sat at our kitchen table and started flipping through it, ignoring breakfast and pleas from their mother to hurry so we wouldn’t be late for church. By my calculation, if Santa brings everything they wanted, he will be spending close to the national budget of Portugal on my boys this year. Every year I end up asking, “What are the two or three main things you would really like to get for Christmas?”
In fact, I’ve gotten pretty good at asking that question. As chairman of the Budget & Finance Committee I get to ask that question of the church’s leadership teams every budget cycle. Which missions do you really want to support this year? Which retreat do you really want to plan this year? Which cantata do you really want to perform this year, Easter or Christmas? Our dreams hit the reality of the budget.
For the first time in 50 years, our church’s operating budget almost certainly have the additional burden of paying on the debt for our new building. Our Follow the Vision campaign will help, but we will still be receiving pledges over three years. That could mean three years of making mortgage payments. That is why it is more important than ever that we continue to give generously and joyfully to New Providence’s operating budget. The capital campaign is sacrificial giving above what you normally give. Your pledge helps us plan and budget so we are being good stewards of God’s gifts.
God is calling us to do great things. Please pray and respond joyfully and hopefully with your pledge. Our worship services, programs, and staff depend on it. The possibilities are limited only by our imagination, and our imagination is limited only by our budget.
In Christ, Andy Luttrell, Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee
“Lord, grow my passion for your purposes in my life and in my church. You have brought me to New Providence for a reason. Show me what you would do through me. Amen.”
“Lord, grow my passion for your purposes in my life and in my church.” Over the last 223 years, New Providence has had a passion to do God’s purposes. To accomplish this, the church has made it a core mission to do 5 things: worship, grow, love, serve and equip. Each of those values can be seen in our work over the past year.
Worship
Worship is a large part of life at New Providence. With services that have something for everyone, the leadership of the church has been quick to take advantage of the new technology the updates in the Sanctuary has afforded them. The Chancel Choir and the FirstLight Praise Band are excited about the future and are planning music that will raise a joyful noise unto the Lord. The Worship and Arts Ministry Team is working to enhance the traditional service with new liturgical and musical elements, and hopes that the budget will allow some of those dreams to come to fruition.
Grow
As Presbyterians, being disciples of Christ means lifelong study, learning, and growth in faith. Beginning with Sunday school classes and continuing through small group opportunities, youth retreats, Vacation Bible School, M.A.C.H. Wednesday and more, NPPC is serious and intentional about helping members to develop faith that stands up to the challenges of everyday life. The last year has brought opportunities for spiritual growth through prayer circles, Sunday morning classes, Bible studies and spiritual formation groups, just to name a few. By providing curriculum and learning opportunities, and developing leaders for the future, New Providence understands the need for a strong, resilient, questioning faith that can adapt to the demands of a complex world.
Love
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples,” Jesus said; “that you love one another.” Led by our Community Life team, one of NPPC’s core values is to create opportunities for members to connect with, befriend, and support one another. This is done by gathering together in fellowship and friendly competition at chili suppers and playing together at church picnics. Visits are coordinated to our homebound friends and members or those in nursing homes as part of our TLC (Taking the Love of Christ) program. Life Beginners and Prime Timers programs allow our retired folks to get together and fellowship with ever-changing gatherings and trips. The addition of a handicap-accessible van makes those activities even more possible for those with limited mobility. “Hospitality” means welcoming all people to be a part of the life of New Providence, and this congregation has shown not only a willingness but an ability to do that.
Serve
NPPC’s ministry over the last two centuries has been marked by a commitment to service, both in the local community and around the world, and the last year has been no different. The Welcome Table celebrated its first birthday by doubling in size. Serving a Tuesday night meal for those in the community in need of companionship and a hot meal, the Welcome Table has been a blessing on both sides of the table.
Family Promise of Blount County is an interfaith hospitality network that has been helping temporarily homeless families get back on their feet for over twenty years. With a team of twenty-six congregations, New Providence is working hard to make sure that families find homes and jobs, making sure that they never have to experience being homeless again.
Every month high school youth help feed the hungry and clothe the poor and homeless of Knoxville through the ministry of Lost Sheep. Our monthly “Money for Manna” collection helps feed the hungry of Blount County through the Welcome Table and Community Food Connection. The Bartlett Adult Day Out ministry allows caregivers of adults a small but vital break in caring for their loved ones. That program currently has a waiting list 6 times larger than the ministry can support, and plans are in the works to expand the outreach to many more families. Each year, NPPC youth and adults go on a mission trip to become the hands and feet of Christ. Ask any team member from the last trip what the week meant to them and you’ll hear comments like, “It changed my life” or “I was so blessed!”
Equip
Undergirding all of NPPC’s ministries, you’ll find the resources – financial, human, even physical – which allow all of this to happen. A sound infrastructure assures the ongoing health and mission of our congregation. A quick look around the building will show all that goes in to keeping the doors open, and the addition of a new 14,000 square foot facility means increased opportunities for ministry but also increased operating expenses. From postage stamps to staff salaries, from utility bills to sound systems, much is required to equip NPPC to carry out the ministries God has given us.
What Do You Want for Christmas?
Your support of the operating budget of New Providence will allow the rich traditions of the church to continue and will also allow new traditions to develop.
