As of the writing of this article, we have received more than $74,000 toward the $60,000 we borrowed on our line of credit. (The surplus will be used to take care of any deficit we might have from 2017. Final figures for last year will be available by the end of this month.) Although it was a very “low key” effort, so many responded with generosity and commitment. I do not know the names of those who participated or amounts that were given by any individuals. That, of course, is exactly as it should be. Giving records are strictly confidential.

Along with my gratitude for those who responded, I also extend my personal thanks to those who, while feeling they could not contribute to this extra effort, have been faithful and consistent in supporting the work and ministries of Broadway. It is all of us together, at whatever level we are able to participate, that has brought us to the beginning of a new year much better situated for the successful ministry of a new pastor.

In my report last month to the congregation (copies of which are still available on the table in the narthex), I wrote something I need to repeat:

Make no mistake about it: What we do always determines what happens. When we do always determines what the future will look like. Where do trust and faith come in? They come AFTER we have done what we believe/know we ought to do.

The biblical reference for this is I Corinthians 3:6, where Paul writes, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.” My footnotes: Without the planting and the watering there would have been no increase.

I believe in the future and the future of Broadway because I believe in God and the words of Jeremiah 29:11: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord … plans to give you hope and a future.

In His Service,

Ron Higdon