2024 CHRISTMAS giving

This will be the fifth year we’ve come together as a church family to celebrate Christmas by intentionally choosing generosity in a season that can so easily be marred by consumption and materialism.  Our prayer is that our Christmas Giving never becomes just another ritual of the season, but that God would meet each of us in a fresh way as we consider how He is leading us to engage.  We absolutely want to partner with God in what He is doing in our church, our city, and in the world.  But we are also intentionally choosing a counter-cultural path that will form our hearts in the way of Jesus as we celebrate His birth.

In total, we are praying for $93,000 of additional giving to Restoration City this Christmas, over and above our regular monthly giving.  Lord willing, here’s what we'd be able to accomplish together for His glory, the advancement of His kingdom, and the good of others locally and abroad.

Our staff and elders have worked hard to control expenses over the past year so that our operating budget is less reliant on December giving than it has been in previous years.  That means we are able to give more to partner ministries and a facilities fund that we are establishing as a church.

RCC Benevolence Fund: $5,000 to meet urgent financial needs in our congregation and neighborhood.
Hispaniola Institute of Theology:  $9,000 to fund a new location and teacher for 2025 as well as provide office/meeting space for their staff in the DR.
Three Roots International:  $8,171 to purchase a high-speed copier for their school and 137 backpacks and annual physicals for the highest risk students at the school.
Casa Chirilagua: $2,000 to support their ongoing work in the Chirilagua neighborhood.
Mercy Nairobi:  $4,000 to help rebuild their facility after a fire last month.
Missionary Support (Rachel Sebastian): $6,500 to air-condition and furnish her counseling office and provide on-going support.
Christmas In Our City: $2,500 to provide assistance and purchase Christmas gifts for families we are in contact with through GW Middle School, Apartment Life, and our Refugee Resettlement ministry.

As a church, we are facing two different facilities challenges.  One, the lack of meeting/event space outside of Sunday mornings makes everything from band rehearsals, to counseling appointments, classes, leadership training, and additional bible studies challenging.  To put it simply, there’s ministry we would like to do but can’t because we don’t have space to gather.  Two, our leadership team is currently evaluating whether our mission would be best served by continuing to meet at Gunston on a Sunday or by finding a different space that offers a smaller worship space while still being centrally located.  At this point, we have no specific plans to share but realize that meeting these challenges will require additional financial resources and want to build our capacity to take advantage of opportunities as they become available. 

As the Lord leads you to give, you can do so online, by check, or by donating stock between now and January 3, 2025.  To make sure we credit your donation properly, please write Christmas 2024 in the memo of any check you write or select the Christmas 2024 Year End Fund when making your donation online.  Any stock transfers between now and January 3rd will automatically be credited to Christmas Giving.