My Journey of Renewal by Jeff Goertz

When I first joined Second Baptist as a High School student in 1972, I obviously didn’t have a lot of disposable income to make contributions to the church. That continued for my years in college and then as a young married person with Susan. That began to change with son Brian’s arrival, and our desire to contribute to the church and support the ministry began in earnest. As we watched Brian grow, we began to grow our contributions to the church. That transformation to us was now 37 years ago, and we have seen our share of pastors during that time.

When Catalyst began, we determined that we would continue to grow our commitments as we saw our needs and what Jason and our entire ministerial staff had done for the Church to expand our reach and ministry in Liberty and the global Christian community. Our church congregation has stepped up in support of Christianity everywhere, from locally to far-away places like Thailand. I cannot think of a better investment in today’s world than what we provide through our Catalyst program.

In this uncertain time, with Covid 19, everything in our lives has turned upside down. We can no longer meet as a congregation, but the work of our ministry continues regardless, and the needs of our Christian community is even greater today. We have determined that this year’s Catalyst drive must be different and that it takes the approach of continuation or renewal. Susan and I are renewing our catalyst commitment for the next two years in support of our ministry, even with my retiring from the Bank in early 2021.

We all see and feel the impact of our Catalyst each day. Even things like supporting our Second Friends pre-school, the In As Much Ministry, Rebuilding Kansas City, and countless other organizations continue to provide significant support to our entire community, for both believers and non-believers as we are all God’s children and need his love. Whether you are active in these outreach programs or just “supporting cast members,” it is all of us making a difference in our community of faith. Susan and I encourage everyone reading this to continue to support the Catalyst Campaign in 2021 and 2022.