Hearts Are Everywhere

Dear Friend of Burke UMC,

You've certainly put your heart into it! Thank you. Hearts are everywhere.

We've been reminded over these past few weeks that Extravagant Generosity is "The Heart of Giving." Since generosity comes from the heart, we've been filling the church entryway with your Heart Cards.

You've noted generosity in action - you've named who's inspired you to be generous - and you've shared your visions for Burke Church. Your heart-felt answers are like streamers of love cascading down the entryway walls. Come and see. And thank you.

This Sunday we're ready to put it all together.

But we've had a glitch.

We mailed out the Extravagant Generosity packets quite a while ago. We'd assumed that you had already received the large white envelope earlier this month. But we just learned from the Post Office this morning that our mailing was held up by November's many political mailings. This means a lot of you haven't yet received your Generosity Packet. They finally went out yesterday, and you should receive them today or tomorrow.

So this weekend will be just the beginning of our "Extravagant Generosity" Response Weekends. There'll be time in all of our services to bring forth your Called to Serve commitments and your Estimate of Giving cards. We'll do it again next weekend as well.

And we're so very grateful for your doing this.

In fact, we've already received significant commitments from our church leadership! Over two dozen members wanted to give early and have done so generously. They have pledged a total of $154,140 for 2012, which is about 13% of our anticipated need next year.

Their generous gifts average $6,165.60 yearly, or just over $500 a month. This is extravagant giving indeed!

I hope you'll join them in participating in the joyful work of Burke Church. Jesus Christ welcomes your hands and your heart, your time and your giving. There's no better way to say Thank You to God.

See you this weekend!

Grace and peace,



Pastor Larry