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A Family of Baptist Congregations in the Midlands of South Carolina
Our One Priority: Starting and Strengthening Churches to Serve as Vital and Vibrant Missional Communities.
Would You Join Me in Contributing to the Congregational Grant Fund?
One thing you will see more of during 2021 is CMBA making grants to our active, financially contributing congregations to help them in specific areas of ministry. Often these will be grants matching what the congregation contributes to their ministry. We will also provide grants for new congregational expressions and new ministries congregations launch. For example, within a few months, we hope to give – dependent on the approval of our Visionary Leadership Community – grants to two new congregational expressions launching this year. In January, we gave two hunger ministry grants from the Congregational Grant Fund and we have a third request waiting for approval.
These grants are made possible not by the regular gifts of our member and network congregations, but from over and above gifts from congregations, missional groups within congregations, individuals, and bequests. While these designations provide basic funding for grants, they are not near the amount of money needed as we see God moving and working in increased missional efforts through the congregations of our association.
I am asking congregations, missional groups, families, and individuals to join me in making regular contributions to the Congregational Grant Fund. I have already started making a small weekly contribution. I do this online at https://columbiametro.org/donate/. On this page you can choose to designate your gift to the Congregational Grant Fund. The gift can be made by credit or debit card, or eCheck. You can make it a one-time, weekly, every other week, or monthly gift. The choice is yours.
My suggestion is to make it what you are not spending on coffee, lunch, or other small items each week as you may still not be moving about as you did pre-pandemic. That is what I am doing. I do not miss the money, and I am glad for our churches to have it to enhance their ministry.
The Congregational Grant Fund guidelines for requesting a grant are discussed HERE.
CMBA Wants Your Ministry Photos!
Have high-resolution digital photos of your congregation on mission and doing ministry together? Share them with CMBA! We are creating Our Family Photos as a collection for CMBA to share these important images from member and network connection churches in future news and updates, including through our newsletter, website, and social media platforms.
Photos help personalize the news and material CMBA shares and are a great way to celebrate how God is at work through His people across the Midlands. High-resolution digital photos depicting children’s ministries, a block party, missions outreach, outdoor baptism service, or a prayer walking event are examples of the types of photos to submit. Recent photos like these are welcomed. Be sure to designate a photographer to capture photos at your next ministry experience. Digital photo files may be emailed to office@columbiametro.org and watch for an official Our Family Photos submission form to be shared soon.
See the CMBA congregational resources posted to this point HERE. More are added regularly.