Dear Soapstone Family,
In the spring, a group of representatives from our congregation began a season of discernment, asking who we are, and who God is calling us to be in this season of our life together. Through prayer, conversation, and more than a few drafts, we arrived at words that we believe describe who we are and who we hope to become:
At Soapstone:
God’s love welcomes us as we are.
We belong to Jesus and to one another.
And we live that love in the world.
In October, we’ll spend time in worship with each of those sentences. Our stewardship series, Love Lived Out, takes its title from the last phrase of our visioning language. Love isn’t meant to stay tucked inside our walls. It becomes real when it takes shape: repairing the floors of a home through Carolina Rebuilding Ministry, bringing food to the friend who is grieving, helping to lead a Bible study. This is what love lived out looks like, and we see it everywhere and all the time at Soapstone.
Your generosity is one of the ways that love keeps showing up.
God’s love welcomes us as we are. Your giving keeps the doors open, the lights on, and the HVAC running for everything from Sunday worship to mornings of preschool fun, to recovery meetings where community members experience God’s healing.
We belong to Jesus and to one another. Your giving sustains the relationships that make us a church: pastoral care through every season of life, formation for children, youth, and adults, and worship and music that shape our life together.
And we live that love in the world. Your giving carries our welcome beyond our building, into ministries that serve our neighbors across Raleigh and beyond.
As we look toward 2027, I invite you to prayerfully consider your pledge. It isn’t a bill to be paid. It’s a way of living out the love that God pours into us and our community. Every gift, whatever its size, is part of how Soapstone says to the world: you are loved, you belong here, and there is good work for us to do together.
You may download and print the commitment card for 2027 here.
On October 25, Commitment Sunday, we invite you to place the commitment card on the altar as an act of worship.
You may make your pledge online here anytime.
Thank you for being a church where love doesn’t stay put.
With gratitude and hope,
Pastor Laura
Lead Pastor, Soapstone United Methodist Church
