End of year need: $474,310
Last Saturday my phone kept going off, message after message. On Saturdays I’m a little slow at checking my phone and responding, but after eight messages I decided I better look in case it was a dire emergency. To my surprise it was nothing but joy. It started with a text from LeAnn Hampton; “Hi friends, just remembering a year ago this weekend when Ariel was here for call weekend.” An outpouring of love followed from other search committee members as we reminisced on the past year and the call date a year ago.
It’s hard to believe it was a year ago we called Ariel Merivil to come share his God-given gifts with us misfits here in Dallas. I’m sure every minister on our staff remembers where they were when they got the call from Wilshire and where they were when they received the call from God to local church work.
Calling is a weird thing; as much as we relate the term to ministry, each and all of us are called by God. Whether it’s a role we play, a vocation we live into daily or even the pursuit of justice and wholeness in the world, calling is for all of us.
We are reminded this season of a call on a betrothed young woman and a young carpenter. A call of silence on an old man, Zechariah, and a call of rejoicing, on his wife, Elizabeth. Calling is weird, and it happens to each of us.
Together, we come into this place and live into our calls to better our church and world around us. And part of that call together is in our giving and generosity. Stephen Covey wrote in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “To be present, growing and serving but not giving is like dragging your leg over the edge of the canoe and wondering why the boat isn’t moving faster.”
Scripture teaches that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” It is through our financial giving we can carry out our mission and be impactful. You’ve recently heard a lot about our missions outreach and giving, but I want to share some things that have happened within these walls. Just this year we were able to install a new sound system in the chapel, refurbish the library, obtain new video equipment and new toys and supplies for preschool ministry, create a new Pathways hall and even renovate two of the resident houses. This is just a short list. My prayer is that we end this year on a great footing to prepare for all the things we can do in 2025. Let’s fill up this tree, friends!
—Timothy Peoples