A few words from Pastor SeongJae
Dear Herndon UMC Family,
In our current context, “Sustainable” means living a life and being a church that endures with purpose and grace. True sustainability is not about doing more or having more, but about being rooted in what matters most: abiding in Christ, building faith that weathers storms, giving generously, and belonging to a community where every person matters. In a world where burnout, scarcity, and disconnection are common, we are invited to cultivate rhythms of life, faith, generosity, and community that last. The hope is that this becomes a lifestyle for us to live out together as a church.
It connects directly with our stewardship journey this fall. As part of this season of sustainability, we are embarking on a second-mile giving campaign that invites us to practice generosity in ways that sustain both our ministry and our church home for the future. This campaign is not a replacement for your regular giving, which continues to fund the daily ministry of our church. Instead, it is a second mile, a call to go above and beyond, to meet two specific needs in this season:
The Action Fund – to support ongoing ministry and to restore or strengthen areas where budget cuts have been made, allowing us to keep our mission strong and vibrant.
The Maintenance Fund – to care for our facilities, ensuring that our church remains a safe, welcoming, and beautiful place for worship, fellowship, and mission. This fund supports essential upkeep and prepares us to meet larger needs together.
Herndon UMC, God has already been so generous to us, and I believe that greater things are yet to come for us. I invite you to prayerfully consider how you can walk this second mile with us. Together, our faith, our giving, and our church can be sustained for the future God is preparing. Together, we can be a church that is spiritually strong, financially sustainable, and missionally alive as we shine Christ’s light in our community and beyond.
I hope and pray your answer is Yes and Amen!
Pastor SeongJae Jo
Our Campaign to Become More Sustainable
Pledges accepted through November 23, 2025. Please make corresponding donations by June 30, 2026.
Charge Conference, the governing body for our church, approved our budget for fiscal year 2025-2026. The conference also approved a special campaign to help boost our resources for this year. We want to be clear: This is second-mile giving. Every contribution will go directly toward these designated purposes.,and actions, like the examples given below, will only be possible as funds are received. This is about aligning our generosity with God’s vision so that our church can grow healthier spiritually, financially, and missionally. In Matthew 5, Jesus calls us to go the extra mile not out of obligation, but out of love and grace.
Here’s a look at where the Action Fund and Maintenance Fund currently, and our second-mile campaign stand (as of August 31, 2025).
The goal for this campaign is $80,000. You can see that the effort will take all of us working together.
The image below shares some of the items that are priorities for the Action Fund (A) or Maintenance Fund (M). Please note that it is most helpful if gifts are only designated to the Action Fund or Maintenance Fund, and not to a specific task or item. This empowers our leaders to allocate funding where it is most urgently needed.
Pledges will be accepted through November 23, 2025. Please make corresponding donations by June 30, 2026.
Gifts may be made via any of the usual giving methods – cash, check, PayPal, and Pushpay. Note: Pushpay can accept various forms of donations, including stocks and cryptocurrencies. Please be sure to indicate “Sustainable” with your donation and specify your split between “Action” and “Maintenance” if desired.
Frequently Asked Questions
What will these pledges/donations be used for?
Your pledges represent the promise of donations. All donations received will be allocated to support the fund indicated.
The Action Fund provides resources for the Resource Management Team to offer new opportunities that may not have been planned for in the budget, as well as to address urgent funding needs exceeding budgeted amounts. The goal is to have at least three months’ worth of expenses (about $200,000), similar to how you, ideally, should have three months’ expenses in reserve to help cover your household expenses. These funds help us be more flexible in how we serve and share God’s love.
The Maintenance Fund provides resources for the Trustees to handle maintenance issues around our facility. With five buildings and over seven acres of property, there is a lot to maintain. The goal for this fund is to be over $300,000 to help cover issues such as HVAC unit replacements (the church has 13 units, some nearing the end of life), window maintenance/replacements on the Sanctuary side of the building, including the stained-glass windows, repaving the parking lot, and more.
What is Second-Mile Giving?
Second-mile giving is giving more than your regular offering to Herndon UMC. The idea is to help replenish our reserves, so that our leaders (Resource Management Team and Trustees) are better able to support the Herndon UMC facilities and church family in serving and sharing God’s love and to address needs as they arise.
Reallocating regular giving, rather than giving more, to this campaign weakens our ability to meet our budget and creates an even greater need for funding.
Will there be an annual Stewardship Campaign?
Yes. Charge conference sought swift action to help with our financial situation. This campaign begins in September and pledging for this second-mile campaign will end alongside the Annual Stewardship Campaign in November, just before Thanksgiving and the beginning of Advent.