2012 Pledge Campaign
MCCLA appreciates and operates solely on your generosity to help us with our mission to bring God’s unconditional love to the world and especially to God’s GLBT and other marginalized Children! Have you Made Your Annual Pledge for 2012 Yet?
| Centered in Christ Engaged in the World Led by the Spirit |
| Radically Living - Radically Giving |
We are proud to be a community of faith that is radically inclusive, preaching and living a progressive gospel as lived out by Jesus, the Christ.
Every Sunday we are invited to follow Jesus in radically living and annually we invite every one of us to make a pledge to the work and life of MCCLA.
This year, your Stewardship Committee, in conjunction with the Board, Staff and Senior Pastor have decided to build on this theme of radically living!
Radically Living is radically giving and, through the generosity of those who pledged last year, your tithes and offerings, we have been able to extraordinarily expand our effectiveness as a community. We have been able to reach out in new ways with the radically inclusive good news of Jesus’ love, literally to the world.
Through our weekly “live broadcast” of our Sunday services, more than 500 people now join us in Sunday worship and throughout the week many others join us in worship via the internet. From the Philippines to Great Britain, Ireland, Canada and Australia, and many other countries this is an act of radically living and radically giving.
We are excited about the impact that we are having and we are even more excited about what more we could do if we all chose to radically live and radically give of our time, talent and treasure.
This impact makes a difference not just in the world, but to members of our own church community. Just this week I received an email from Sarah, a member of our church who was a beneficiary of our “Paul Gronberg Benevolence Fund”. Sarah had fallen on hard times and was unable to pay her latest gas bill that arrived. She was able to scrape together her rent and food for the month, but the gas bill was just beyond her reach. We were able to grant her enough money to make it through the month and gave her much-needed breathing space. You did that!
There are so many other stories I could share with you, similar stories of how your radical giving has impacted lives in the church, in the community and in the world. Your pledges for 2012 will not only ensure that our shared work continues, but increases our shared, community impact.
Exploring Your MCCLA Pledge Opportunity:
Tell Me More--Community Outreach
What has your giving through MCCLA done for our community lately? This is by no means an extensive list, but gives you some idea what your tithe and pledge to MCCLA makes happen. Without it, none of this could be done.
Community Outreach Through our partnership with HopeNet, we have opened and staff a food pantry at Mt. Hollywood Congregational Church, which feeds hundreds of families a week. Through our Brown Bag Lunch Program we feed more than 300 homeless women, men and children each month. Our Deacons Pantry provides emergency food every day of the week. Food for Food Through our partnership with Ralphs, we are raising money to provide vital resources for a hospice caring for children living with HIV/AIDS in Tijuana.
Tell Me More--Spiritual Activism
Spiritual Activism Your giving through MCCLA makes it possible for our staff and lay leaders continue to be present on the front lines in bringing about social change. We are currently involved in Marriage Equality, the Non‐ Discrimination Employment Act, Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, HIV/AIDS, Women’s Issues, the move to put Harvey Milk on a US Stamp, reaching out to our friends in Uganda, California Faith for Equality, and planting new Spanish-speaking congregations in other MCC congregations in the United States.
Tell Me More--Safe Spiritual Space
Safe Spiritual Space Your giving through MCCLA makes it possible for the safe spiritual place we provide on the web and through personal relationships!
Through our website and using the latest technology, we are providing safe spiritual space for people around the world who are able to join us live on Sunday for our worship services. All of our worship services are streamed live on our website and archived for viewing 24/7. We also invite people to join our weekly Bible Study (in English) via Skype. Our viral communications through Facebook and Twitter help hundreds of people around the world to connect with MCCLA and to participate in its life and ministries.
Caring for One Another We have developed more than a dozen Home Study Groups to connect each other in relationship and to provide a level of personal care beyond the Sunday experience. These groups are provided in both English and Spanish and meet throughout the month in strategic locations throughout the greater Los Angeles community.
Our Lay Pastoral Assistants provide vital emergency care to both attendees and non‐attendees alike. They are often seen in the hospitals, people’s homes, in the Fellowship Hall after worship, and other places offering a helping hand, prayer and friendship to those in need. The Paul Gronberg Benevolence Fund has provided grants and benevolence to many of our own congregation in these rough economic times. Through your generosity we have provided thousands of dollars in assistance.
A Challenge to You: Think, Pray, Stretch
A Challenge to You These are times of belt‐tightening for all of us ‐ and that includes Metropolitan Community Church Los Angeles. In 2011, we recommended a flat budget that reflects the economy that we find ourselves in. It is heart‐warming to report that month after month clergy, staff and ministry leaders have been vigilant in keeping expenses within budget in their ministry areas. We are challenging everyone to give generously to the work that God is calling us all to do. One of the ways Christians respond to this challenge ‐ and have done for centuries ‐ is by tithing, or committing to give a tenth (10%) of their gross income. If, after thinking and praying about it, you don’t feel ready for that level of commitment, we suggest Proportional Giving. While the Biblical tithe is the goal, setting a lower percentage of your gross income, allows you to systematically move towards tithing by increasing your pledge 1% or 2% or more each year.
Think. Pray. Stretch. Think about your relationship with God. Think about what belonging to MCCLA means to you. Count the blessings that God has brought to your life. Pray for God’s guidance ‐ this is a spiritual decision ‐ and be open to God’s promptings. God sometimes calls us to give more than we may feel is logical or comfortable. Stretch (like so many parishioners have done) beyond your comfort zone. It’s not the amount of money you pledge; it’s the commitment to give sacrificially to God’s work. The Bible repeatedly tells us that God richly blesses those who make a prayerful commitment to give faithfully and sacrificially of their treasure ‐ and our experience reinforces that.
How to Calculate the Amount of Your 2012 Pledge
- Simply write down what you expect your 2012 income to be.
- Write in the percentage you feel called to give, then, calculate your annual pledge.
- To calculate the monthly pledge, simply divide your annual pledge by 12 .For example:Annual Income $45,000.00
Percentage: 10%
Annual Giving: $4,500.00
Monthly Giving: $375.00
Weekly Giving: $86.54
For more information or to speak to someone
For more information or to speak to someone about your pledge, please call, email or correspond with us:
Metropolitan Community Church Los Angeles
4953 Franklin Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90027
Tel: 323 669 3434 admin@mccla.org
Download & Print Your Pledge Card
Thanks for taking the initiative to make a difference with your Pledge Card. Please download this PDF version, print it and fill it out. If you prefer, we also have a JPG version you can print and fill out.to download and print your pledge card. If you prefer printing a jpeg, then here are the two pages in image (jpeg) format: Page 1 Page 2
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