Dear Friends and Siblings in Christ,

By God’s grace and through the many generous gifts pouring in to fund a flourishing church, From Deep Roots, New Life has exceeded all expectations. Imagine this: we raised $2,500,000. Alleluia! Though we may be astonished, our faith came through in ways Jesus told us to expect! After all, Jesus said some pretty encouraging things about being bold in asking, even to expect mountains to be moved. 

Everywhere our amazing team of visitors went, they were met with warm hospitality, great questions, enthusiasm, and joy. I received such deep pleasure in working with our Trustees, with the members of our Campaign Steering Committee, and with our amazing diocesan staff as we lifted up the powerful witness our churches proclaim. As I wrote “thank you” notes to so many people throughout the diocese, I became abundantly aware of just how deep and far our roots go. 

In the first chapter of Ephesians, St. Paul prays that the “eyes of our hearts may be enlightened” so that we may know the hope to which God has called us and to experience the richness of our glorious inheritance as God’s holy people. 

As we trust in our inheritance as God’s holy people, we are blessed to bear witness to the Good News in Jesus Christ of a love with a presence and a power that is stronger than death. Through the multiplying benevolence of your gifts and through the “eyes of our hearts,” we will continue to sustain our current and future lay and clergy leaders by supporting them in their innovative expressions of faith. We will seek to find and encourage Gospel-Oriented Communities that emerge in our midst. And we will continue to be both nimble risk-takers and stable leaders of our grace-filled church communities. 

This is God’s exciting life-giving call to us: to be a community of faithful disciples and bold apostles, shaped by the risen Jesus Christ. 

We live this way not merely for the survival of this humble church, but for the sake and the salvation of the world! Those are the deep roots of the church’s message. And those roots are already leading us to new life. Praise God from whom all blessings flow! 

With Abundant Gratitude in the Risen Christ.