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Our ministry and mission here at Apostles Lutheran Church only happens because of the generosity of our members and friends. This generosity takes the form of financial giving and the giving of time and effort as well as our remaining committed to Christ’s New Commandment, “to love one another” as Christ has loved us. Our investment in the ministry of Apostles plants seeds of love that the Spirit can cause to grow and prosper as we actively pursue doing those things  God has called us to do. We appreciate greatly the generosity of our members and friends, and realize that our  congregation cannot live into its mission statement without your generosity. Your willingness to support what we do here touches real lives and impacts many people in wonderfully positive ways.

Sometimes, our generosity is needed in  order to shape how we can share God’s love in the future. Right now, we are looking to ways we can help our ministry grow into the future. Church Council recently had a retreat in which we began to look at some longer range planning, and we’ve come to realize that we have a wonderful opportunity in the near future to create a foundation for potential congregational impact. Currently, we find ourselves owing a balance of about $17, 575 on our mortgage, with payments each month of almost $1700. After conversation, Church Council has put in place a plan to try to pay down our  mortgage more quickly. Based upon our calculations, if we can raise an extra $5,000 before March of next year, we will be able to retire our mortgage prior to Palm Sunday of 2026. Since Palm Sunday has been an important date for many congregational milestones in the past, we have set a target to pay off the mortgage before then, and celebrate the occasion on Palm Sunday. However, if we can raise about $10,000 by the end of the year, we can pay the mortgage off and begin 2026 with a clean slate. If we can manage to accomplish this, it means we can create our spending plan for 2026 free from those monthly mortgage payments and have, with the continued regular generosity of our members, the ability to direct funds to congregational and community needs, opening up new possibilities for ministry and congregational life. It also will help us to continue community commitments important to our overall ministry goals even as designated money begins to run out in the near future.

Here is how you can help. Please prayerfully consider contributing to our mortgage payoff fund. If you are able to do so, there are several options for contributions:

     + Place your contribution in an envelope and mark the envelope with the words “Mortgage Payoff.”
     + Use one of the envelopes found in our narthex entrance already noted as “Mortgage Payoff Campaign” when you come to church.
    + If you contribute electronically, make a note on the annotation line directing the contribution to the “Mortgage Payoff Fund.”

Please note that any contribution that does not convey that it is for the Mortgage Payoff Fund will not go into the fund to pay down the mortgage. Undirected funds normally go toward current expenses. Also, building fund contributions will not be used for paying down the mortgage. They are designated for building repairs and property maintenance. While we do look forward to paying down our mortgage, these contributions can only be in addition to regular giving so our ongoing ministry is not affected.

We are excited for the opportunities which lie before us. We are grateful for your generosity which has been crucial for our ministry in the past and for our ministry going forward. We give thanks to God for all you do to help create and support our ministry here at Apostles and we look forward to the many ways we can continue to share God’s love through Christ as we move forward.