Our hope is that this community of followers of Jesus, this church would outlast all those who are working to start it. That this would be a church that would always give itself away for the benefit of the city. A church that cares for the needs of the city. A church that would continue to demonstrate and announce the Gospel in this region for generations to come.

 

The Advent Offering is our church’s annual opportunity to ask what God is stirring in our hearts for the year to come – and to leverage our resources to make it happen. For 2012, we aim to raise $12,000 above and beyond our regular tithe to contribute to three initiatives we feel God calling us to press into in the coming year.

 

Read below to see how we believe God is calling us to steward our resources toward these three areas of opportunity.

 

Serving is about moving our resources and ourselves in response to human need, acknowledging that the worst kind of need is the kind that happens with nobody else around. As a community we want to respond this Christmas in two ways:

LOVE PROVIDENCE – our existing community renewal project in the at-risk neighborhoods in the south side of Providence –  particularly our work at Reservoir Ave School.

NEEDS FUND – we plan to start this in 2013. It will exist to meet the tangible needs of people at Sanctuary Church throughout the year. In an account of the early church (Acts 4:34-35) we are told that there were no needy people in the community… we want the same to be said about us.

We believe that we have a clear mandate in Scripture to care for the poor, needy, and oppressed in and outside of our church. Please consider joining us in giving this December.

As a community, we’re devoted to building an engaged, passionate, spiritually healthy community of people. Over the last 6 months our Sunday gatherings have grown from 70 regular attendees to approximately 150.  As a church plant we need additional finances in order to sustain this growth.

We want to take seriously the responsibility in front of us to plant a church that lasts. We know that means both listening to God and investing through prayer, service, and resources. God calls us to be wise in stewarding our money that we might be able to be sustainable, generous, and full of faith.

Please consider giving so that we can strengthen our infrastructure so that we can better equip and serve this church. One way we aim to do this is by bringing on additional staff in 2013.

Even in a culture as fluid as America, sociologists seem to agree on at least one thing: urbanization is here to stay. The latest trends indicate that 80% of the world’s population will live in cities by the year 2030.  Faced with this new world of urban societies, we must anticipate what reaching our city can and should look like.

THE CITY PARISH: God has placed a clear call on our church to be a “planting church.” We believe that in a metro area like Providence we need to get smaller, and spread out as we (God willing) continue to grow. We envision one urban church community consisting of several neighborhood churches that network together for the common good and renewal of the city. The city parish church is diverse in its essential nature, uniting women, men, and families from various cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds across a major metropolitan area.

Our vision is that within our first 3 years we would begin the launch of a new neighborhood church. A portion of this year’s offering will be put aside as seed money for a future church. Please consider giving as we join God in the restoration of our city neighborhood by neighborhood.

Option 1 is our ideal system of giving. You give via our online community building tool called “The City.” 

Sign up takes a second if you aren’t on it already.

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