Pledge Season 2025

The importance of pledging and giving to our general fund.

by Bart McNiel, Associate Pastor of Administration, Ministry Support and Congregational Care

Our church budget year that runs from April through March (also known in accounting terms as our fiscal year), is coming full circle once again. We will close our fiscal 2024/25 budget year on March 31 and start out fiscal 2025/26 budget year on April 1. The regular and recurring gifts received each week or month are a core component to the financial health of our church.

Our budget pledge season is already underway at Smoke Rise. It is a time when we encourage faithful givers to renew their pledges and to sustain regular and recurring giving practices that empower our church. If you are not a consistent giver, we encourage you to prayerfully consider a commitment to regular and recurring giving to our budgeted ministry plan at Smoke Rise. We are a vital congregation because we are a generous congregation. Faithful givers enable our congregation to meet its budget and flourish as a community of faith.

Gifts to our budgeted ministry plan help us fully fund the maintenance of our wonderful campus and its facilities and support our staff and ministries each day, week and month of the year. Designated gifts are always welcome, and we receive many such gifts at Smoke Rise. But without general and regular gifts in support of the budgeted ministry plan as a primary and core commitment of our membership, the worship, fellowship, ministries and mission work of our church would not be as vibrant or sustainable.

Please prayerfully consider your role in fulfilling our pledge to worship, learn, care, serve and give at Smoke Rise in support of our general fund. Whether your financial abundance is large or small, each member is encouraged to listen for God’s call to give as he or she has prospered to support and sustain the worship, fellowship, ministries and missions of our family of faith.