I know that many of you who regularly read my blog are members, attenders, or supporters of Renovation Church. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we made an intentional decision to do two things. First, we lowered our expenses at the church to the absolute bare minimum. Second, rather than adding to our savings account, we have decided to operate on faith and donate everything above our fixed budget to our brothers and sisters in Kenya & Uganda through Simba Educational Ministries and AsOne Ministries.
I am excited to announce that for the month of May, we exceeded our budget by $1,800. As a result, we will be donating all of this extra to these two organizations. Through your faithful giving, we have been able to give a total of $7,000 for the past three months. To put that into perspective, that is nearly two full months of expenses for our church.
At times, those who come to our church ask me, “Tyler, when are you guys going to get a building and become a ‘real’ church?” Having a church building would make things more convenient, lower our volunteer need, and allow me (and others) to sleep in a little longer on Sunday mornings. Nevertheless, it would strip us of our ability to practice the same type of radical generosity we see in the early church (see Acts 2 in particular).
We have made the decision this summer to not rent a building worship – not until it gets colder out. Instead, we are gathering for worship in the beauty of Split Rock Park in Garretson. Rather than meeting in a building made by human hands, we are meeting in the original sanctuary that proclaims the beauty & glory of God – God’s creation.
If you live in the Garretson area, I’d be honored to have you as my guest. For more information, head to our website: www.renovationchurchsd.com
Tyler Ramsbey 