An Easter giving appeal

March 28, 2021

Dear friends of FLC,

A greeting to you on this Palm Sunday, borrowed from letters of Paul: “Grace to you and peace in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Grace to us beyond our deserving, true peace and life to our hurting world: that’s what Holy Week and Easter are all about.

Join us for an extravagant week of worship! Many of us will participate in leading the journey of the Triduum – Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil, all at 7pm on zoom – learn more here.

As an exciting sign of hope for the end of this pandemic (our county has reached the ‘orange’ tier), after the 9:30am Easter Sunday zoom service, we’re hosting an actual on-site event: an 11am outdoor (masked, socially distant) gathering with an Easter egg hunt for the kids, the option to receive communion, and a few treats.

This Easter, we’re making an appeal: would you consider an extra gift towards the ministries of FLC, even beyond pledged giving? It may be that not all of us can do this – it’s been a tough year. But thinking personally, even though we Hilleslands are facing college tuition (x2!) for the first time, we’re also grateful to have received government stimulus checks. And in general, there’s been so much “grace and peace” for us. Our family has been kept safe and well. Our congregation has been blessed with a new creativity and beautifully remodeled spaces. We’ll make a gift, hopeful for the ways FLC ministries might bring grace and peace to our neighbors in 2021 and beyond.

Financially, the pandemic has been challenging for FLC. As most you know, we’ve lost rental income and haven’t received the usual “loose plate” offering at festivals such as Christmas and Easter. We had to use around $35,000 from our endowment to balance the budget. If those of us who are able give something extra, can we make up some or even all of this amount, to be stronger going forward? In hope and gratitude for the grace and peace we’ve experienced in our lives?

If you can make an extra gift Easter Sunday or any time in the next month, we invite you to let Joyce know it’s an “Easter Gift.”  If you like, you can give through paypal here.

Thanks be to God,

Pastors Kate & Bernt, on behalf of Church Council