End of Year Financial Letter 2018
Dear Church,
God has done amazing things this year. He’s been at work through your faithful and generous investment of time and money. I invite you to celebrate his blessings with me and prayerfully consider how we can increase our blessing of others in the coming year.
We planted Peace City Church this past year. Wow! We’re giving $72,000 to the mission (spread over three years), and have helped prepare Eric & Lisa So and Brandon & Tulani Smith for the work. Twenty-five of our members took the leap with them to start this new church! Now families in Riverdale, MD have literally been rescued from despair, people have come to know Christ and Peace City Church is growing both in maturity and size. God did this through your faithful gifts, effort and prayer.
The Well took a risk this year by creating two staff positions to help us go deeper into discipleship, worship and mission. Your generosity allowed this step of faith, and God has worked immensely through you! We hired David Feiser in Family Ministry to disciple our kids and propel them into a life long journey of following Jesus. We have seen a tangible difference in this ministry as David and so many of you have invested your lives in The Well kids! From baptisms, to mission trips, to daily “ordinary” discipleship, God is at work! New families are joining us in this journey and “old” ones are seeing their kids grow in faith. We also hired Bobby Jackson as the Worship Director. Bobby has stewarded your gifts and his team so that the body may worship Christ in more enriching ways. You were part of this as you joined the set up/tear down team, welcomed people, played in the band/AV and connected people to Community Groups.
Church, we faithfully take these risks with our gifts, and even the giving away of our lives together, because we are desperate to see the gospel transform us and the world. And it is happening. Know that God is changing lives by how we engage people in worship and service.
A financial update and two tangible ways you can embrace this gospel movement are provided below. I invite you to linger here, chase links and rejoice with us as we reflect on what He is actively doing. First, please take a moment to pray, right now, in thanks to our God! May this be just the beginning.
2018 Financial Update
Since our start, The Well has designated 30% of all giving for missions to the lost and needy. This comes in the form of Church Planting (15%), Local Missions (Communities/Mercy) (10%) and International Missions (5%). We have and will continue to do this, as God has given so generously to His people so they might be generous. Here are just a few examples of how your giving was put to use for spreading the gospel and building the church:
- Eight baptisms and 15 child dedications
- Added two staff members allowing for the amazing expansion of our Worship and Family ministries
- Launching Eric & Lisa, Brandon & Tulani and 25 members to start Peace City Church, which cares for and brings the gospel to refugees and the surrounding community of Riverdale ($24,000)
- Funded other church plants and coached their staff: Endalk Sela Ayo at 4 Corners Ethiopian Church, Ben Palka at Kings Church, Charlie Mitchell at Epiphany Church ($10,000)
- Giving to SENT + A29 Networks general funds ($29,000)
- Student ministry missions trip to New York ($2,000)
- Counseling/Benevolence assistance for strengthening marriages, healing individuals and supporting physical needs ($5,600)
- Funding Community efforts to reach the lost, including: serving the needy with food bank donations; feeding and seeing the homeless; sponsoring a Healthcare Fair; and throwing great parties. ($8,100)
- Bringing the gospel to University of Maryland via giving for CRU staff ($7,200)
- Growing as followers of Jesus as we reach the lost with the gospel, and seeing them come to know Christ!
- In all, The Well’s total spend for 2018 was $568,000
2019 Projected Budget
We have budgeted for the continued funding of the noted staff positions, increasing our investment in the work of mercy (internally and externally) and responding to the increased (doubled) lease cost for the Seventh Day Adventist building. Your year-end gifts and recurring giving will be the tools that God uses to meet these joys. You can give to the work online.
Further, we trust God will deepen His work at The Well, while expanding our reach to more people in these and many other ways:
- Church Planter support/coaching, including: Peace City Church Pastor Eric So; The Well Planting Resident Danny Chung; and The Well Pastoral Resident Mark Kang
- Saving for a more fitting worship space in Silver Spring (while coping with the current rent increase)
- Expansion of External Mercy Ministry, including partnership with: Peace City Church; DC127/Foster Care, Bethesda Cares; and Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless
- Expansion of Internal Mercy Ministry to tangibly engage the needs of our body
- Exploring international missions initiatives, including in: Ethiopia; Mexico City; India; and Sudan
- Funding a new missionary team to reach people in apartment communities via Apartment Life
- Empowering our existing 11 Communities to demonstrate and declare the gospel, as we celebrate with and serve those who don’t yet know Christ
God owns all things. He has been so generous to His church, and we expect nothing less in the future. He will continue to grow His body, change lives and expand His kingdom here. Paul outlines a model for giving in 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 in which: we observe God’s work; plan to give generously; and join with Him financially for our partnership and joy in the gospel.
Action is needed to meet our 2019 budget. We will need to go from internal giving of around $36,000 per month this past year, to internal giving of around $50,000 per month this coming year. The increase will allow us to sustain the current church functions, fund growth and provide the kind of generosity that God has called us to. Your end of year generosity and repetitious giving in 2019 will be critical pieces of The Well’s continued gospel impact in Silver Spring.
I’m asking you to consider two things:
- Give an extra gift this December towards the work of God in and through our church. Please prayerfully consider what you will generously give now, as well as in a recurring way in 2019. You may give online, by mail (sending a check to The Well Community Church, P.O. Box 3323, Silver Spring, MD 20918) or Text (Sign up through Giving Fire and then text an amount “$___” to 240-392-3678). Year-end givingmust be received, or post marked, by December 31, to be counted as part of the 2018 financial year.
- Engage in the work! Seeing the gospel transform lives is an “all-hands-on-deck” effort. Invite someone into your group or onto your serving team this year. Choose a team to serve on, or begin sharing leadership in your Community/3D. Teams to join can be found online.
Here is a short guide that will help you make a God led, prayerful decision in the areas of serving and giving. Please do not hesitate to email me (matt@thewellsilverspring.org) or Elder Blaise Rastello (blaise@thewellsilverspring.org) with questions or comments.
God is doing a great work through us all. May He blow us away this coming year with lives transformed, church planters sent, mercy extended and people brought to salvation in Christ.
Love you all and am grateful to be serving with you as your Pastor.
Matt Klingler
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