Each year in Advent, we honor the generosity of God with our Christmas offering. The funds from this special giving are designated in alignment with our calling as a community of grace and peace for our city and the world. This year, we’re hoping to support the following objectives through a giving goal of $95,000:
To resource our community:
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Purchase and install a lift to make our second floor spaces accessible for everyone. These spaces serve kids’ ministry, volunteers, student tables, meetings, special events, and expanded seating capacity for our gatherings.
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Repair and add furnishings to make our space in Building 112 more functional and hospitable.
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Supplement our general fund. We grew as a community in 2019, but our overall giving didn’t grow, which meant stretching resources to meet more needs. This supplement will help us cover expenses associated with our growth (like the kids’ ministry space we added this year and more coffee for gatherings) and other increasing needs (like rising healthcare costs for staff).
To resource our city:
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Support the expansion of restorative justice circles in South Bend Community Schools. These efforts aim to displace exclusionary discipline practices with a more relational approach to conflict and problematic behavior. You can learn more about these circles here: https://sbadamsthetower.com/
3442/news/restorative-justice- cutting-down-on-exculsionary- discipline/
To resource our world:
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Fund a partnership with the Telos Group, an organization that helps form and equip communities of peacemakers to heal intractable conflict. It’s our goal for peacemaking pilgrimages to Israel/Palestine, Northern Ireland, the American South, and even here in South Bend to become part of our global strategy. You can learn more about the vision of the Telos Group here: http://www.telosgroup.org/wp-
content/uploads/2019/04/ Peacemaking-as-Discipleship. pdf -
Continue our support for World Vision’s efforts in caring for refugeesin crisis:
https://www.worldvision.org/our-work/refugees-fragile- states
We’ll be telling you more about these objectives in our gatherings throughout the month of December. Please consider giving toward our Christmas 2019 fund in addition to any giving toward our general fund. Our Christmas offering is designed for giving that goes beyond our regular support. In order to give, head to southbendcitychurch.com/give and select Christmas 2019.
By contributing to this fund, donors acknowledge that South Bend City Church has full authority to apply contributions designated for these projects to other purposes in the event a project is canceled or oversubscribed, or other needs necessitate such action. If you have any questions about these giving objectives or the Christmas 2019 fund, please email us!