Dear Gardener,

As Carolyn mentioned during The Garden service on Sunday, June 25, we need to “step out of the boat” and trust in Jesus to lead us through the challenges we face in our congregation, our community, our country, and around the world. The tradition of The Garden sets us on a progressive path to make a difference wherever we can: by accepting all people; feeding the hungry through our community garden; marching to draw attention to gun violence locally and nationally; writing our representatives asking them to take action to serve those less fortunate; and supporting local organizations’ efforts to improve the lives of children and families with our Little and Big Give initiatives. 

Of course, to do this takes all of us. Our prayers as well as our donations of time and treasure help make a real impact. Inspired by Carolyn’s message, The Garden Leadership Team would like to address our current budget shortfall and to “wade into the water” with our eyes fixed on Jesus with faith, not fear.  

With that in our hearts and minds, we are sending out this special call-to-action, the “Wade into the Water” campaign, to raise $30,000 for The Garden in the next 60 days (July and August). We already have a few individual donations totaling $3,000, and an anonymous donor will match every additional donation of $500 or more up to a total matching donation of $5,000. We hope this will help us quickly raise the first third of our goal. However, all donations, whether large or small, will help make this campaign a success.

All you need to do is make a special donation apart from your annual pledge amount in the harvest basket on Sunday morning, noting on your check “Wade into the Water,” or donate online through this link using the specific campaign designation. 

Watch Realm and your weekly bulletin for more details and to track our results!

In God’s Love,

Beth Young

The Garden Leadership Team Chair