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Dear Church Dear Church Family, Last year as we began the month of December, I quoted a phrase from my old mentor who often said to me, "Tell the truth and trust the people." So once again I want to "tell the truth and trust the people" concerning church finances. Throughout 2012, our giving has been up from 2011, and I'm grateful to you for that. However, like every year at this time, we need a faithful and extremely generous December to fund all our ministries and to pay our apportionments (United Methodist missions) in full. Thankfully, that usually happens. In order for us to meet all our ministry obligations, we need a December offering of about 1.1 million. Last year in December we received 1.1 million, so this is certainly doable. If you have not done so yet, please catch up on your pledge by the end of the year. And if you have already given your full pledge, please consider giving a "second mile" offering to help us end the year in the black, giving us a strong start for 2013. To date, we have received 604 pledges for 2013 totaling $2,785,525 for an average pledge of $4,612. However, we need at least 1,100 pledges at about this average to maintain even a flat budget in 2013, so we still have a long way to go. We are asking every member and friend to turn in your pledge by this Sunday, December 9th, when we will consecrate them during worship. You can bring your pledge to one of our four worship services this weekend, or make it online by clicking here, or call it in to Lisa Gray at 324-8201 or email it to Lisa at lgray@bumc.net . These 2013 pledges will fund vibrant ministries that impact people's lives including