2026 Giving Campaign

OVERVIEW

2026 will be a transformative year for WPLC! Our A Place for All campaign will finish making our historic building ADA-accessible. We’ll also expand our youth and children’s ministry, deepen volunteer opportunities, and maintain our strong commitment to justice. These are the directions the Holy Spirit and your feedback have led our community. Yet, moving in these directions requires funding.

Communicating your expected giving for 2026 ensures that our plans can become a reality. Based on all the giving goals set for 2026, the Congregation Council will evaluate if we can move forward with our plans or if we need to pause programs or cut staff. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you share your 2026 giving goal, even if it remains the same as 2025.

We know that many of you have made generous gifts to support our A Place for All campaign and that inflation remains stubborn, that is why the Council has built a 2026 budget with one of the lower percentage increases over the past decade. The 2026 budget is anticipated to increase by 13% or $49,567.80.

Your gifts will help us to achieve our 2026 goals and make a concerted effort to reduce the market-rate compensation gap for our pastor and church musician by 40% ($17,896.34).

We invite you to participate in the movement of the Holy Spirit by setting your goal! Explore more information about this campaign and how to best discern your goal below. You are in our prayers as you discern your meaningful giving goal.

I think WPLC has never wavered in their passion for justice and change. I think one top strength is the consistency in values. That goes a long way- more than you may realize.
WPLC Member

How Will you use my GiftS?

Your Meaningful Giving Goal

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 6:19-24 (NRSV)

The Spiritual Practice of Giving

Each year, we encourage you to join us in this spiritual practice of aligning your Christian values with your finances. So, we invite you to review your spending and join in thankfully giving a portion of the abundance God has given you as we work for justice and strengthen our community.

How you use your financial gifts communicates what you value in life. As you consider your gift this year, consider these reflection questions:

What have I received from God (possessions, gifts, feelings, relationships, etc.)?
What have I received from my community?
What positive forces have I noticed at work at WPLC through others’ testimonials and my own experiences?
How do my calendar and bank accounts show my values and priorities?

Goals to consider

Move toward or past a tithe (10% of your income) by a percentage or more – a biblical model for giving (click here to learn more)
An additional $11 weekly; $36 monthly; $430 annually – ministry cost increase between 2025 and 2026 divided by number of families who donated in 2025
$24 weekly; $102 monthly; $1,227 annually – covers 50% of the cost of a single worship service
$50 weekly; $217 monthly; $2,605 annually – 2026 cost for ministry divided by the number of families who have donated in 2025 (includes non-members and members)
$92 weekly; $398 monthly; $4,770 annually – covers 6 months of streaming our services to share God’s love across the globe
$148 weekly; $641 monthly; $7,690 annually – cost for 50% of fellowship and community-building
$197 weekly; $854 monthly; $10,252 annually – cost for 50% of our children’s ministries, includes nursery, Sunday School, youth group, children’s messages, and PraySpace
$289 weekly; $1,252 monthly; $15,028 annually – covers the cost for half of our music ministries
$442 weekly; $1,917 monthly; $23,000 annually – cost of approximately seven weeks of our service to the local community and our work with the global church
$683 weekly; $2,962 monthly; $35,539 annually – cost of our ministry of inviting individuals to join our work, includes community event sponsorship, drinks with pastor, advertising, website, and outreach

Ultimately, we are thankful for gifts of any size as we continue to bring love, hope, and transformation to Wicker Park and beyond.

We felt very welcome and absolutely LOVED how passionately the pastor presented the sermon. NOT AT ALL a cookie cutter service and monotone sermon that a person sees at many church services. There was simply nothing negative that I can say about our experience. It was wonderful!
First-time Visitor

CommunicatING Your Goal

Your Giving Is Essential!

We cannot do this work alone—we need your support! All our ministries are self-funded, and we do not receive financial support from our denomination. Sharing your goal directly impacts our 2026 budget and ultimately, determines if we can continue, expand, or need to cut our work. We need your help to share our values of inclusivity, justice, liturgy, and diversity!

How are you able to financially partner with us in 2025?

Please complete the form even if your giving goal remains the same from last year.

Why Give to WPLC?

Thanks to our generous donors this last year we’ve seen:

Launched youth programming with a twice-per-month Youth Group
Began a weekly Wicker Park playgroup
Hosted our first diaconal resident, Vicar Kornelius
Kept pastor and staff’s salaries aligned with inflation
Made significant progress toward our Comprehensive Building Plan with construction planned to start in fall 2025
And more (see here)

Looking for More Information?

One of the things that first drew me to WPLC was the hospitality and genuine interest in who I am as an individual. The congregation’s commitment to serving the community in a myriad of ways — and particularly in regard to the building — is also very compelling.
New Member

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why are you asking me to set a goal?

It has long been a Christian spiritual practice to support the church in its work to facilitate communal worship, education, fellowship, and service to our neighbor (Acts 4). Based on the ministry evaluation in the spring that helped us identify 2026’s congregational goals, the Congregation Council has put forward that we need $416,786 of funding in 2026. Being good stewards of your gifts means that we need to create a balanced 2026 budget for the congregation to consider for approval. Your goal helps us to anticipate a reasonable amount that we can fund for 2026. If we don’t hit the goal, the Congregation Council will make hard choices on what we need to cut. If we exceed it, we can move forward with some of our long-term goals more quickly. The communication of your 2026 goal (even if it’s the same as 2025) is VERY IMPORTANT!

2. What if I set a 2026 goal and something changes so I can’t fulfill it?

We complete understand that no one can predict what will happen in 2026. We encourage you to set a realistic and generous goal–one that takes into account your personal/family financial situation and one that encourages you to lean into God’s abundance. Your best estimate is helpful for the Congregation Council to set a realistic budget. If something unexpected happens we understand that you may not be able to fulfill the goal.

3. What if we don’t reach the total budget amount needed for 2026?

After the end of this campaign, the council will evaluate all of our expenses and income streams to present a balanced budget to the voting members in February. Unfortunately if we do not meet our goal, everything we feel the Holy Spirit is calling us to accomplish in 2026 won’t be possible. Often times, this first means holding off on repairs/upgrades or pausing programs. In extreme cases, it could mean breaking agreements with our contractors, staff, or pastor.

4. What if we exceed the total budget amount needed for 2026?

If we exceed our goal, then we will utilize the gifts given to strengthen our ministry by enacting some of our goals on a more expedient timeline! This could mean increasing our ministry partners and mission support, expanding children/youth programming more quickly, or fully closing the pay gap for our pastor and staff.

WPLC is a shining light in these dark times. This community is a lifeline.
WPLC Member