September 30, 2026
Dear People of Christ Church,
Every fall we ask you to consider prayerfully what Christ Church means to you, what it means to our community, and what you can do to help ensure that our ministries continue to grow and touch lives through our annual pledge campaign.
Your Vestry and Rector have already been wrestling with those questions and with the deeper question, “What is God calling us to do at this moment?” and we believe we have a faithful answer. The answer grows out of a moment in the interview process when your Search Committee asked how to attract more youth to our congregation. I listened to their concerns and pointed out that they had just been saying how blessed Christ Church was with families who have small children. I asked them, “Have you considered that maybe at this moment God is calling you to be a church that ministers to the children you do have rather than to the youth that you wish you had?”
We believe that’s exactly what God is inviting us to do. In response to that invitation, we are looking to call an Associate Rector whose primary responsibility would be our families with young children. Our intent is to call someone next May who will be recently graduated from seminary, called to and gifted in children’s ministry. In addition to responding to our immediate need, this would also restore Christ Church’s historic role of helping form and nurture newly ordained clergy for the rest of their vocation. We are one of only a handful of parishes in the diocese who is capable of filling that role. A second full-time priest on staff also helps to ensure our other vital ministries continue to thrive and increases opportunities for our parish to grow.
To fulfill this vision, we need to increase our current budget by $58,500, which includes salary, along with the required pension and healthcare coverage. Because we have the rectory available for our Associate Rector, we save roughly 25% of the full cost of that position. We are confident that we can meet this goal if we all commit to it together.
We ask you to consider what you can do to help us make our vision a reality. Together, we can help make sure our church remains a place where faith is lived, families and children are welcomed, and God’s love is shared with others. You can either email your pledge directly to Amy Creasy at [books@christchurchvaldosta.org] or call her in her office at (229) 242-0616. Pledge cards can also be picked up on Sundays in the foyer and placed in an offering plate. Our goal is to have all pledges turned in by November 1 so that the Vestry’s 2027 budget preparation can begin soon afterwards.
Thank you for being part of our church family and for supporting the life, witness, and ministry of Christ Church.