John Wilkinson:

Dear members and Friends of Third Presbyterian Church,

"Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see…"

Do you remember singing that great old hymn? Whether it be morning by morning, year by year or generation by generation, God’s mercy and love, and God’s call to justice and peace, have been ever-present and strong.

That affirmation is true for each of us, and it has been true throughout the history of the Third Presbyterian Church of Rochester. Since 1827, this congregation has sought to be faithful to the call of God to worship and service, to be agents of reconciliation and ambassadors of hope within the congregation, in the Rochester community, in the Presbyterian church and beyond. That calling is as strong as it ever has been as we journey into a very interesting and challenging 21st century.

Our story is never fully captured by the bricks and mortar that have comprised our buildings, but our buildings have certainly been important vehicles for worship and service. We could not worship as we do, nor teach our children, nor hold countless meetings, nor serve our community, if not for our buildings of the past, and our current wonderful facility at the corner of East Avenue and Meigs Street.

And so, after several decades, it is time for us to attend to important facility and programmatic needs, so that our present and future vision may be served and enhanced.

The "Faith for the Future" campaign outlined in the pages that follow is an important and exciting opportunity for us to build on the traditions of the past while making a bold statement about the future.

I am grateful for the many who have contributed their time, energy and insight to the planning of this campaign. The proposal in your hands reflects our best thinking and hundreds of hours of work. It has been described as “practical and restrained,” and I think that is true. It enhances our facility in such a way that we might worship faithfully and hospitably welcome members, guests and strangers for decades to come. It treats our current buildings with care and respect, while at the same time realizing that our programmatic needs have evolved along with the profile of our congregation.

The outreach component reflects our commitment to the common good in the city and beyond, and to care for neighbors in need. Emil Brunner once said that "a church exists for mission as a fire for burning." Third Church would not be what it is without its outreach ministry.

The endowment component reflects the importance of sustaining and strengthening one of our most valuable resources, a resource to which our forbears have generously contributed and that supports our ongoing ministry in critical ways. Without our endowment, the ministry of Third Church would look very different as well.

The great hymn quoted above concludes with the declaration "strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow." It is the foundation upon which we are establishing this important campaign. But more so, it is a core affirmation of our faith, past, present and future.

With gratitude for the ministry we share, I am deeply grateful for your prayerful consideration of this hopeful vision.

Faithfully,

John Wilkinson