Good Samaritan’s Bishop’s Committee announced today that our congregation is the recipient of a generous $90,000 challenge grant opportunity in 2018 from our brothers and sisters at Christ Church Cathedral, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, and Trinity Episcopal Church. The grant was announced as part of Good Samaritan’s Annual Meeting festivities after our 10 a.m. worship service.

The Bishop’s Committee, which is our church’s governing board, has been hard at work to build our capacity for ministry and congregational ownership of our ministries as our start-up grant monies wind down in 2018. Last summer, representatives from Good Sam’s approached the three Indianapolis congregations with some very good news: we were noticing that the pattern of giving among our members in 2017 was already ahead of where we expected it to be. We inquired about the possibility of a challenge grant to propel our giving forward even further in 2018 as we prepare to be off of all start-up grants for operating costs in 2019.

Encouraged by Good Samaritan’s growth in 2017, Christ Church Cathedral, St. Paul’s, and Trinity offered us a unique and generous challenge: for every dollar that Good Samaritans pledge and fulfill in 2018, the three Indianapolis congregations will match our gifts, dollar for dollar, up to $90,000. “This matching grant opportunity helps our new church start take a huge developmental leap forward toward self-sustainability,” said The Rev. Dr. Gray Lesesne, Good Samaritan’s Vicar and Pastor. “We are so grateful for the generosity and leadership of our three sister congregations, who are empowering us with firm footing and wind at our back as we continue to be the church that includes and serves in our community. And, I am humbled by the generosity of Good Samaritan members, who have already started very generous habits of stewardship.”

On Sunday, January 28, members of Good Samaritan will be invited to offer an estimated Consistent Giving Form for 2018 (also known as a pledge card) as part of our liturgy, and the congregation will have the opportunity to fulfill these pledges over the course of 2018. On December 31, 2018 the three sister congregations will match whatever has been pledged and fulfilled. At our Annual Meeting today, our Bishop’s Committee members announced that the entire board and our clergy have already made pledges totaling a combined $27,520 for 2018.

Good Samaritan has grown from a membership of 0 people to 145 people since its first worship service in September 2016, and the congregation now has an average Sunday attendance of 81 people.