Matching Grant '23/’24
Church planting is as tremendously wonderful as it is enormously difficult. Faithfulness to the gospel and a commitment to discipleship — what Eugene Peterson coined as, “a long obedience in the same direction” — are the only means of running the race well/faithfully and in a way that is sustainable. That point is only punctuated when you consider the complexities/challenges added by being in the epicenter of post-Christian thought and the nation’s highest cost-of-living. This has certainly been our experience now, a mere five years into planting City Parish Church. And through all of the ups and downs, the Lord has provided us with such extreme evidences of his grace and mercy that it remains undeniably clear that this is the path he has called us to walk.
Few of those evidences have resounded as clearly and reverberated as broadly as the grants that we have received from Transforming the Bay with Christ (TBC) over the last four years. Each year the Lord has supplied the exact amount that we needed to reach financial viability and keep our operating budget within the black. By his grace our young church has managed to continue to grow and we’ve seen his faithfulness in raising up cheerful givers. Yet even with that, we’re still very much a church plant and depend on external funding. That’s why we’re so excited to announce that we’ve qualified again to receive another matching grant from TBC — this time in the amount of $21,500! We’re doing something different this year and stepping out in faith with a goal to triple that amount! We’re asking our church family, supporters of City Parish, and anyone within our networks to prayerfully consider helping us raise $43,000 that would give us a total of $64,500 at the end of the grant campaign!
We’d be humbled and honored if you would prayerfully consider helping us meet our goal of turning that $21,500 into $64,500. It’s an audacious “ask” and an audacious number — but we feel more confident than ever that this is what the Lord is calling us to do. That amount helps us meet our budget of $180,000 (a fairly trim budget for a church of 60+ folks in the CA Bay Area). Of that $180,000, 20% is given right back into our community and towards church planting endeavors.
Our goal is to raise $21,500 from within City Parish (family members, regular attenders, guests, etc.) + $21,500 from folks outside City Parish (friends, family, churches, organizations, etc.) + $21,500 in matching funds from TBC = $64,500.
We’re humbled and grateful that you’d consider partnering with us in this unique, wonderful, and exciting opportunity. Even if you aren’t able to help, will you join us in praying for the funds to come through? Thank you for being vessels of blessing from the Lord. We’re thankful to God for each of you!
Here’s how:
Online
Checks
Physical checks can be made out to ‘Stratum Foundation’ with City Parish Church in the memo and mailed to…
Stratum Foundation
220 Halleck St. Suite 100b
San Francisco, CA 94129
***This might be a particularly valuable option if your gift is over $10,000 as there will be no processing fees deducted.***
Stocks & Cryptocurrency
We are recommending that anyone wanting to give via Stocks or Cryptocurrency to consider doing so through a Donor Advised Fund (DAF). If you aren’t already utilizing a DAF, we highly recommend you consider utilizing Charityvest. Charityvest is a very cool organization that makes opening a DAF and utilizing it for charitable giving incredibly simple. Charityvest is Y-Combinator and Praxis Labs backed. It's a great company that is making a tool once used only by the wealthiest donors, available to everyone in a way that benefits charities and donors. Charityvest doesn't charge the donor or the receiving charity any fees when they make or process a donation. Here is a link to a video showing how someone opens an account and makes a donation using Charityvest.
Here are some specific links for anyone wanting to donate stocks or cryptocurrency.
If you already have a DAF setup you can instruct your DAF provider to send a grant to: STRATUM, EIN 35-2692988 with ‘City Parish’ in the Memo or Notes section.
If anyone you need any further help, feel free to reach out to us or you can email Stratum directly at help@stratum.foundation for more information.