There is room for all in God’s house. - John 14:2

Dear Friends, October 2024

Thank you!  If you are receiving this letter, you are a part of making Haslett Community Church a place where everyone has a place to belong!  Thank you for your presence in the life of HCC. It is because of your faithfulness to this church that we continue to grow and make a difference in this community. Together we are on the path to fully funding the church we love!

Three years ago we started a movement to "fully fund the church we love."  We began by simply asking the question, "Why do you love HCC?"  We asked and answered that question again and again. We also asked another question like it, "What does our church love?"  With each iteration of this question we remembered that love is what we share here at HCC. A love for one another, a love for this church, a love for serving our community and yes, even the world!

Throughout these past two years, we have worked diligently to educate the congregation about the church's financial situation. We have held the budgeted bottom line steady so that we could allow financial contributions to match not only the basic expenses of the church, but also match the love and the goodness shared and received through active participation at Haslett Community Church. We also educated some, for the first time, that the church is only financially sustainable when we who participate in the life of this church contribute financially through the offering plate, or other electronic giving methods. It is only through the sustained investment and generosity of the people of HCC that the bills are paid and our ministries grow. There is no other source of funding.

This year we have combined all of the previous efforts to fully fund the church we love with the congregation's brand-new vision statement. Together, there is nothing we lack. We have a high trust community with strong and passionate pastoral leadership. We have volunteer leadership that commits thousands of hours every year to bring the mission and ministries of HCC to life and to harvest.  We now have a vision to inspire and lead us into a future we need and believe in. With all of this we are not only closer than ever to fully funding the ministries of Haslett Community Church, but we are also creating and celebrating a community who loves fiercely, welcomes radically, and cares relentlessly, until everyone has a place to belong. 

Your generosity grew both the number of pledges and the dollar amount committed for 2024, reaching 107 pledges totaling  $296,100.  If we can reach $306,000 for 2025, then we will have fully funded the church we love.

We are interdependent, and it takes all of us to make a difference. We need more spaces that remind us of this. We are working to fully fund the church we love, not to merely keep the lights on or manage programs. The purpose of our continued efforts is to make space for anyone, so everyone has a place to belong.

We aspire to rewrite the contemporary story of what a church can be. So that when we look back on this moment, the stories that will be told about us will be stories of welcome, love, and care. May it be said of us that we did the work of love. May it be said of us that we opened our doors and widened our tables, not because it was fashionable or easy, but because it was holy and true. May it be said of us that our care and compassion were not reserved only for the few, but for the many, for all of us have been strangers in need of welcome. And for those who will never be active participants in the life of HCC, our prayer is that for any who come near, they will taste and see even for a moment, our commitment to a community of belonging. It is our practice. It is what guides us. It is the future we aspire to create, as far as it depends on us.

So, thank you. Thank you for all that you do, all you contribute, every prayer you raise, every hour you spend, every dream you dare to speak into the life of Haslett Community Church. Your commitment, contribution, and investment in these days, will allow others to follow after us, to fully fund the church they love, until everyone has a place to belong!

With Gratitude,

Kyle Carnes Rev. Betsy Aho
Finance Chair Pastor