An Ambitious Vision
Pastor Corey Wagonfield
Resurrection Lutheran Church (Lebanon)

Resurrection Lutheran Church in Lebanon, Ohio has a typical worship attendance of 100 people on any given Sunday. By the grace of God, the generosity of our members, and a streamlined budget, we tend to just make ends meet at the end of each year. So I was a little nervous when I went to the church council with an ambitious vision for our congregation to send our youth, at no cost to them, to the ELCA Gathering this summer. To send our 10 youth and four chaperones, we would need to raise around $20,000; which is about 10% of our annual budget. The church council agreed to “find the money” for whatever amount we were unable to fundraise over the year.

 

We began holding monthly fundraisers, and speaking to the congregation about the life-changing opportunities our youth will have because of this trip. The vision caught on with our members and an abundance of generosity sparked within the congregation. Within a few short months we had raised more money than we needed for the trip, which provides us now with a nest-egg that can be used for future youth trips.

 

The youth who attended the Gathering were so incredibly moved by the generosity of the congregation. We held a Valentine’s Dinner fundraiser where we hoped to raise $1,000 from the ticket sales and some auction items. As the youth were helping us total up the receipts at the end of the night, we had raised over $6,000. I remember one of the youth tearing up and mentioning that they had no idea that people who hardly knew some of the youth would give so generously to help assist them in their journey of faith.