Years ago a friend with a discipleship ministry shared the importance of developing what he called a “cathedral building” mindset. My first reaction was, “I’m not Catholic, and I don’t think we want to build a gigantic stone monstrosity like in Europe. They’re all dead inside.”
He chuckled and explained, “When stone masons worked on cathedrals, they had the mindset that they were a part of something greater than themselves. They knew the few stones they carved and shaped were part of something that may not be completed for another 100 years or more, long after they were gone. Yet they still dedicated themselves with care, with craftsmanship, and with love for their work, knowing that generations to come would gather under their work to worship.”
That mindset made sense to me, and it’s an important one for any Christian to have. We are all stewards of the relationships and institutions God has for us for whatever brief window of time He allows. Valley View was started by a little old lady across the street, 88 years ago now. What she started, many others have shepherded and built upon. Now we are adding our own stones to this work for our short window of time. The building isn’t complete. He’s still working through us. In fact I believe He has only just begun to do a new thing with Valley View.
We find ourselves at the edge of an historic turning point. For almost ten years now, our church has lived off savings. Now we have an opportunity to end the financial year (September 30th) at break even or better. My prayer is that we even end up with a little left over to put back into savings.
I would be remiss to fail to mention that part of how we’ve come this close is through the generosity of so many. Not only through financial gifts, but also through time. Many dedicated people show up weekly at Valley View to help care for the facilities and landscape, all of which saves the church thousands and thousands of dollars every year.
Thanks for your generosity and prayers. Valley View has an exciting year ahead. In fact I can’t wait to share next year’s vision when we gather November 29th for our annual vision and worship night. We’ll share more about that in the coming weeks (let’s get past our Fall Faith Festival first). Make sure to pencil November 29th on your calendar. You won’t want to miss it.
God is at work as we walk by faith to close out the financial year. Please be praying about what step of faith He would have you take.