Tim Stevens, executive pastor at Granger Community Church, just posted a letter their church is sending out to all Granger members. Tim writes that the economic crisis is only the most recent financial problem - their church has been experiencing a local economic slowdown for two years.
The letter is 4 pages long, includes cartoon graphics as well as prose, and clearly lays out the problem, what their leaders have done about it, and the specific request for help from their members. The letter states that:
- they have frozen staff salaries,
- cut their budget 3 times, and
- not made any new hires.
I am sorry to see Granger experiencing economic woes. I am pleased to see Tim sharing the situation, not only with their members, but with the world at large. As another executive pastor of another church, it's comforting (in some weird "I feel your pain" way) that another church is going through the same thing we are. We also sent out a letter to our members last month. So far, Crossroads has responded beautifully. I hope the same thing is true for Granger!