January 26, 2011
Dear Friends in Christ,
It is a joy and a blessing to do the work that results each year in the Santa Barbara Mission Conference. The Mission Conference Council works through the year to produce, in a two day period, a conference that glorifies God and stimulates the crafting of God’s mission. We have come to understand that His mission encompasses the neighborhood, the community, our nation and the wider world.
The work to plan and produce the conference largely rests on the willing shoulders of our able volunteers. Members of the Conference Council are passionate about God’s mission and are delighted when the annual conference succeeds in reaching its goals. The conference has grown into one of the most prominent venues for the discussion and development of the Missional Church by bringing together major speakers and presenters who contribute to the delivery of a vibrant and exciting conference. We are able to do all of this while asking attendees to pay a subscription fee that is below the average for a conference of this caliber. By taking this approach, through God’s Grace, we are able to remove any significant financial burden and open our doors to all lay Christians and missionaries who wish to attend. This year we charged only $25 for pre-registration, $40 for on-site registration and $10 for students.
How do we balance income and expense? Of course, we are able to minimize expense by relying heavily on the grateful hands of our volunteers, for which we are truly grateful. In addition, we receive some financial support from our sponsoring organizations, the Presbytery of Santa Barbara and First Presbyterian Church of Santa Barbara, but primarily we rely on gifts of our friends of the conference. These gifts allow us to bring leading minds and speakers from across the country to the conference; for example, this year our conference attendees were stimulated by Steve Hayner from Atlanta, GA and Pat Ellison from St. Paul, MN.
To focus the gifts of our friends, three years ago we created the Circle of Friends of the Santa Barbra Mission Conference. Their contributions and ongoing support are an essential element of our work. Please consider joining the Circle of Friends by supporting us with your gift. We suggest a gift of $25, $100, $500, or $1,000, whatever is within your means. You can make your donation at our website using a credit card (www.sbmissionconference.org/donate-2/) or you can pay by check, making your check payable to “Presbytery of Santa Barbara”, marking it “Circle of Friends” and sending it to us at:
Presbytery of Santa Barbara
6067 Shirrell Way
Goleta, CA 93117
In Christ,
Chuck Curtis Dr. Jan Armstrong
Conference Director Executive Presbyter