Celebrating the Downtown Challenge
When I became the Lead Pastor for the Downtown congregation two years ago, it was hard to imagine being where we are at this point in time. The momentum and interest in a Downtown congregation and the outpouring of generosity from so many people throughout Redeemer over the past 12 months has been amazing. I’ve seen people step into leadership roles and embrace the idea of a Downtown congregation before even a single public gathering was held. I’ve seen hundreds of people come to Catalyst and help begin the formation of our community. And now with the completion of the Downtown Challenge we have the financial support needed to forge ahead with our launch this fall, which will be a challenge of its own!
The Challenge has been an incredible demonstration of faithfulness and love by people from the East Side and West Side congregations as well as all those in our Downtown congregation. I am now able to see the real meaning and value of the collegiate model as the East and West Side congregations have gotten behind our launch and have made sacrifices to propel us forward. It’s my hope that the Downtown will continue this spirit of generosity for many, many years to come.
Thank you to all 1258 supporters of the Downtown Challenge who gave over $1.41M guaranteeing the full match of the $1M matching gift. This will provide us with the funds necessary to reach self-sustainability. In addition to the money raised I want to thank the 300+ Downtown congregants who have affiliated with us, which tops the number we had hoped to reach (for a core group) before launching in October. Thank you to all those who have stepped into volunteer roles or who have signed up to serve in our congregation. And thank you to so many of you who have prayed for us and the Challenge. God has shown us again of his provision and plan for Redeemer in the city and I am truly humbled by how he has done far beyond what we thought was possible. I can’t wait to see what he does in the months and years ahead!
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