Dear Fair Oaks Family,
You’ve been hearing this season about what the last 100 years has brought us. In 2024, especially, we’ve been celebrating the remarkable milestone of a century of our faith community growing together. We have built a community that has greatly impacted the spiritual lives of our members and our community over many generations. We should be proud of that legacy of faith, but our community is always changing. Even as we honor the past, we must always have our eyes on the future, and our hands on the present.
As written in our mission statement, Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church is called by God to PROCLAIM by word and deed the good news of our savior Jesus Christ, to NURTURE children, youth, and adults into Christian faith and discipleship, and to SERVE, in Christ’s name, the Oak Park community and beyond.
We proclaim primarily through worship. Weekly worship services are our opportunity to gather as a community of faith and experience each others’ faith stories together. Our worship experience involves our pastors, but also includes a significant musical component, with choir, instrumental music, and organ all playing a role.
We nurture through LOGOS, other youth programs, and our regular adult study opportunities (bible study, book clubs, etc). As our membership increases, these programs will continue to expand.
We serve through our Faith in Action partnerships, other service opportunities the church undertakes, and our mission trips. Mission has played a central role in the church for generations and will continue well into the future.
Our 2024 budget reflected a planned deficit as part of the congregation’s decision to call an associate pastor. The search for that associate pastor is still ongoing, and we hope to complete the call by early by early in 2025. In the meantime, not having an additional staff member, we were able to get by with other solutions to our staffing needs for the year, such as our wonderful program-year intern, Jaden.
Unlike most congregations in the Chicago Presbytery, Fair Oaks is growing. That means that our programs are growing, and the need for additional staff is even more clear. To meet 2025 preliminary budgeted costs and avoid another deficit, we need to increase our total giving by about 8%. This added support would allow us to meet the growing needs of our church, from covering essential building maintenance and salaries to expanding programs. Your pledges help us plan with confidence and continue our commitment to responsible stewardship. As you consider your 2025 pledge, we invite you to keep this goal in mind.
No matter the amount, we welcome your pledge as your way to contribute to the legacy of faith for the next 100 years. To help you plan, the finance committee has provided a summary of last year’ pledges below. Please submit your pledges, either online via Realm, or by filling out a pledge card by November 24th, Dedication Sunday.
The Session of Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church
| 2024 Pledge Level | Percentage of Pledge Dollars |
| <$3,500 | 6.80% |
| $3,500 – $4,999 | 12.90% |
| $5,000 – $6,499 | 14.20% |
| $6,500 – $8,999 | 17.40% |
| $9,000 – $14,999 | 14.20% |
| $15,000 – $19,999 | 13.80% |
| $20,000 + | 20.70% |
The average pledge for 2024 was $6,941