Our Church, Our Time: Living Faithfully Now
What is Stewardship?
What is Stewardship?
Stewardship is our responsibility to use wisely the gifts that God has given us. Everyone has a part to play in giving of time, talents, and treasure – monetary support – to make sure our ministry can be sustained. Our church has no endowment and no debt. We rely on yearly donations to fund staff, outreach, community life, and building operations. Pledges remove some of the uncertainty within funding our budget, so we can confidently carry out our mission. First Presbyterian Church of New Haven is a church that seeks to ease suffering, accompany the oppressed, and meet the needs of God’s people.
Please let us know about your intentions to give in 2023.
You can either fill out a Pledge Card, or email the Stewardship Team at stewardship@fpcnh.org
It is helpful for us to know:
- Total amount for 2023
- Frequency of intended giving (weekly, monthly, annually, etc.)
- Contact information (name, address, email, and phone number)
Stewardship Update from the Session: May 2023
Dear First Pres,
We, the Session of First Presbyterian Church, are reaching out to you today as part of our commitment to keep you in the loop on our financial health as a congregation. And, we have good news to share—with a small request as well.
First, the request: As you may remember, our total budgeted expenses for this year (2023) are ~$338,000. Our goal was, and is, to receive pledges to cover at least $300,000 of those expenses. To date, we have received sixty-one (61) pledges totaling ~$282,000—just about $18,000 shy of our goal.
Telling the Story of our Finances
Telling the Story of our Finances
As a church, we have been experiencing a shift in our culture.
- We have been moving our focus away from fund development and towards people and spiritual development.
- We have been moving our focus away from scarcity and towards sufficiency.
- We have been moving from being consumers of church to being community members in the church.
We have no endowment and no debt.
Trusting in God’s provision for God’s people in every time and place, our church abides by a policy not to hold an endowment. Each generation is called anew to expressions of stewardship – to prayerfully direct the wealth and wellbeing entrusted to their care to the glory of God. For those of us in this generation, this means that we are not bound to the calling of our ancestors, but free to hear God’s call for us today.
In 2007, our church held a capital campaign to pay down the mortgage on the Owens Building. A significant dent was made at the time on the loan but rather than pay it all off at once, it was more prudent to hold some of the cash in a capital fund for future repairs. In 2020, First Pres received a gift of $100,000 from the Church of the Redeemer. The funds enabled the Session to confidently clear out the Capital Campaign fund and pay off the mortgage that was held on the Owens Building – the only debt our church carried.
We want to get our house in order so we can dream big.
The remaining funds from Church of the Redeemer will ideally go towards new, exciting ministerial endeavors that we will discern collectively in 2023. We want to do something worthy of this gift – not just fund our operating budget. Fulfilling our pledge goal of $300,000 will ensure this possibility.
During worship on 11/20, 11/27, and 12/4, Elder James Cramer, Stewardship Committee chair, interviewed members of the Session to tell the story of the process of creating our 2023 budget. Desiring to be transparent and clear about the process of creating the budget, this format will bring congregation members along for the journey. The hope is that you – and all who wish to give – will have a clearer picture of what it costs to be the church, and why the Session is excited about what is coming next.
We are a Sanctuary Church