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Dear Finance and Stewardship Chairs (cc: to Pastors),
Please see the information below on an important program being led by Ed Ruppmann. I am very supportive of this program, which has many benefits and no costs to our member churches or parishioners. There is no selling of anything here, either at the meeting or at any other time - just free advice from an experienced financial planner who is committed to his faith and assisting the people and churches of the Conference.
If interested, please contact Ed directly at either edrupp50@gmail.com or 516-364-1151.
From Ed:
We have created a program called Sower: Seeds of Faith & Finance. The program is designed to reach out directly to the members of your church to help them get back on solid financial ground. We will come to the church, conduct an in-depth financial planning session and make recommendations on how participants can strengthen their financial position. We offer no products or services where we directly or indirectly are paid a commission. We have found that once the congregation is educated, they are empowered to ensure personal financial wellness and, in turn, are often able to increase support of their church.
The program has a proven track record of success. District Superintendent, Rev. Betsy Ott, former pastor of Lake Ronkonkoma UMC and Park Ave. UMC said the following:
"Your program is the most positive thing going on in this conference relating to stewardship that I've seen in a long time." You're doing a wonderful job. FYI our giving here has gone up in the past year and we are increasing in the number of pledgers. There is a much better sense of stewardship as a way of life and of the need for stability in giving so the church has stability in funding ministries. Blessings, Betsy"
We had a very successful year in 2015 with this program. Here is a brief recap of what we have accomplished.
1. Conducted 8 seminars at the following churches: Cornwall UMC, Cornwall NY, St. Paul’s UMC, Middletown NY, Epworth UMC, Bronx, NY Grace UMC – Newburgh, NY, Lake Ronkonkoma UMC - NY, Church of the Village UMC – NYC, Port Washington UMC, NY and Yalesville UMC, CT,
2. Educated over 160 church members about their finances and about fundamental stewardship concepts so that they can become better stewards and disciples of Jesus Christ.
3. Received 37 free will offerings totaling $16,700 to date from those who took advantage of the financial planning program last year. These funds go directly to the churches that participated in the program.
4. Generated $1,750,000 in bequests since 2012 as we asked families to consider leaving something to their church in their will.
6. Overall since 2006, bequests now total $5.4 million.
7. Free will offerings totaled $116,000, up 5.5% from 2014.
8. Educated over 1,750 people since 2006 about how to be better stewards of their resources.
There is no cost for these seminars as they are funded as part of the Frontier Foundation and Connectional Ministries' education program.
PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT THIS PROGRAM. WE ARE SCHEDULING EDUCATION PROGRAMS NOW.
WE WILL BE HAPPY TO MEET WITH THE LEADERSHIP OF YOUR CHURCH TO EXPLAIN THE PROGRAM IN GREATER DETAIL.
SIMPLY SEND ME AN E-MAIL AND SAY "I'M INTERESTED.” I CAN BE CONTACTED AT EDRUPP50@GMAIL.COM OR AT 516-364-1151.
Thanks Very Much, Ed Ruppmann
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