Thank you from James

Dear New Hope Class,

Thank you so much for your generous gift to us this year. As Brad stated Sunday morning, the restaurant gift cards will be handy on late work evenings this winter, and a wonderful reminder of our friendship. Gifts made to Partners for Sacred Places for the work of the Texas Regional Office are always deeply appreciated and heartfelt.

We are currently providing New Dollars/New Partners training support to several small United Methodist congregations in our district in cooperation with the Amon G. Carter Foundation. Your gifts to our organization make it possible to provide staff support for the growth of our work in the Metroplex and outlying areas. It has now been almost seven years since my vision became a reality in the Texas Regional Office and it is through your support, and that of other local partners, that we are able to weather this economic storm and to begin to think about expanding our program to communities where congregations are challenged with the burden of care for aging buildings with diminishing resources. We are now in the process of developing a more formal approach to the “reuse” of sacred buildings. Your concern is always appreciated and I would love for you to become more acquainted with our work.

I can remember in the early days of our class when we really had to think about dedicating gifts beyond our tithes to arising needs. As the decades have passed, we’ve grown in size and resources by the blessing of God, and our empty nests! Now it seems we are always prepared to react with concern at the point of need. What a great joy it is to join with you all to support the work of the church in our neighborhood and the world.
Sincerely,
James