October Special Offering Part 2: Ministerial Relief

Dear Washington Avenue Christian Church,

Thank you for your continued, generous support of Ministerial Relief and Assistance. Your gifts serve as tangible signs of presence and love with so many of our clergy, and we are grateful.

Our clergy continue to face many challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic rages, as our country remains embroiled in political tension, and those who are marginalized and oppressed continue to fight against systems that would keep them as such. It is a most difficult time to be a pastor.

Here at Pension Fund, our concern for our pastors and their well-being is real. In the last few months, we have, through your generous gifts to MRA:

• Offered financial support to clergy who have sustained significant household
  damage and personal loss due to Hurricane Ida.
• Funded parental leave grants, so that clergy families are able to spend time with
  a new child knowing congregations are cared for.
• Continued our support of our 13th Check recipients (and without the benefit of a
  special offering at a General Assembly thanks to donor generosity!).
• Funded much-needed care for the terminally ill son of a clergy couple.
• Sustained, via technology, our work to help pastors be both spiritually and financially healthy through the programming of Excellence in Ministry.

Your continued gifts make all this possible, reminding our clergy and their families hit with unexpected or very difficult things that they do not face such things alone. They do so with a grateful Church by their side.

It’s been over 125 years since MRA was born, and we celebrate that by continuing to keep our hearts open to new ways we might support clergy mentally, spiritually and financially, especially given the challenges of this last year. Your partnership on this journey is essential, and we give thanks for your commitment and your generosity.

With Gratitude,

Todd Adams, President and CEO
Pension Fund of the Christian Church