Dear partners in ministry,
Grace to you and peace from God our Creator and our Risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen!
Thank you for your congregation’s faithful and generous sharing of mission support with the synod and churchwide expressions of the ELCA during our 2025 fiscal year, which ended on Jan. 31.
Mission support is the undesignated dollars your congregation directs to the synod to support the work we do as “church together.” Thanks to your generosity, we reached 95% of our budgeted goal and we are so grateful. Your gifts totaling $1.85 million help us together touch lives in countless ways and offer hope for people near and far. Thank you!
When you give money to your congregation, a part of that is sent to the synod and I want you to know that it makes a difference. Every dollar impacts lives in one way or another. Thanks to your generosity, we are able to support the work of our mission developments and redevelopments, and pour resources into vitality efforts for all of our congregations. These efforts allow us to live out our faith in bold ways and to truly bring hope to life in a time when we need it most. Simply put, being church together means you are the reason that the ministries like Eternal Flame Hmong Lutheran and Cristo Rey exist. Without your gifts…they would not. So thank you, again for being so faithful.
As we look at 2026, it is clear that expenses will continue to rise for things like insurance and other costs of being a congregation. I wonder if your congregation would consider increasing your mission support by one percent…one penny on every dollar you receive. This small but faithful step would allow us to continue to show up and expand the work we can do together. Please prayerfully consider it!
Again, thank you for your partnership, your trust and for being church together in this synod. May God bless your ministry and the work we do together.
In gratitude,
The Rev. Justin A. Grimm
Director for Evangelical Mission/Assistant to the Bishop for Congregational Vitality
