Scripture says, “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live throug him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:9-11)
Because God loves, He gives! When He sent His only Son into the world that first Christmas, it was the ultimate expression of His love for each and every person. In giving us Jesus, God met our greatest need — a Savior to rescue us from separation and bring us home to a real relationship with Him. Once you experience God’s love in Christ, you’ll gladly give whatever it takes for others to experience that same love too.
That’s why I’m so proud of our Vaughn Forest Church family. Over this past year, you have relentlessly demonstrated God’s love through your prayers, your serving, and your financial generosity. Like Father, like family. Because you love, you gave whatever it took to help others experience the unconditional love of God found only in Jesus. Your actions are a true reflection of God’s love at work in and through our church family.
Best of all, God has an even greater season of impactful ministry ahead for us. As we wind down 2025 and lean into 2026, we are more motivated than ever to show and share the love of Jesus in our community and around the world. Pastor and theologian Tim Keller offers this reminder, “The gospel is not just the story of how God loves us, but how He empowers us to love others — generously and sacrificially, just as he does.”
Since God loves, He gives. Because we love, we give too. We don’t give just anything. Like God, we give Jesus to others. In order to share the love of Christ with more people than ever, this year’s special “Love Gives” Christmas Offering will go to five specific ministry initiatives in 2026. Each of these five initiatives are described in detail below. Please read through this information and prayerfully consider how God would have you and your family give sacrificially so more people can experience His love.
On behalf of our pastors, staff, and leadership teams at Vaughn Forest, know that we love and appreciate you. We’re here to serve you in any way we can and are happy to answer any questions you may have. Please reach out and let us know how we can help.
“Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:18).
Because Love Gives,
Pastor Jim Botts & the VFC Pastoral Team
The “Love Gives” Special Offering is a call to sacrificial giving with a goal of $150,000 for five impactful ministry initiatives. Because “Love Gives” we believe God is calling us:
- To better facilitate community and relationships in the family of God by making our lobby space more inviting with new furniture, decor, and gathering areas.
- To grow those in our Next Gen ministries by helping reduce costs for our Student Ministry to go on a mission trip to New Orleans, LA during Spring Break of 2026.
- To continue serving the communities of East Montgomery and Pike Road with God’s love — no strings attached — reaching out to the mission field He’s placed around us sharing his hope and transforming lives with the good news of Jesus.
- To better serve first-time guests with families with an upgraded New Family Check-In area for Sunday mornings.
- To fulfill the Great Commission by continuing to lean into international mission opportunities with our partner ministries in Mexico, Cuba, Trinidad, and Spain.
We’re inviting everyone who calls Vaughn Forest Church home to sacrificially give to this special offering, reflecting God’s generous love. Together, let’s make a lasting impact by giving boldly and faithfully between now and January 31, 2026.
The 5 Ministry Initiatives of the "Love Gives"
Special Offering
Frequently Asked Questions
To be clear, this isn’t about appearances, it’s about atmosphere. We want our lobby to be a place where relationships form, conversations happen, and community in Christ grows. The early church didn’t have buildings, but they did have tables! We want our lobby to feel like “tables” where strangers become friends and friends become family in the family of God.
In addition, we want our families with small kids to have a place to participate in our Sunday gatherings when they’re too fidgety to be in the BIG room. Your sacrificial giving to Love Gives will help enable better connections and community in our lobby space for years to come.
If you have ever had the privilege of going on a mission trip, you know the incredible ways that God moves, not only in those that are being ministered to, but also to those who are on mission. Our Student Ministry is growing both in numbers and in spiritual maturity, and we believe that the next important step in our students living out the 3D life of Christ is to go OUT and share their faith with others.
To this end, in addition to teaching our students to BLESS others in their daily walks at home, this Spring Break we’ll take 40 students and adults on a week-long trip to New Orleans, partnering with the MissionLab through New Orleans Seminary. Our students will participate in Backyard Bible Clubs with kids, street evangelism, serving the homeless through food banks, and more.
This trip, however, is not cheap and we do not want any student to not be able to go due to finances. As part of “Love Gives”, a portion of your generosity will go to reduce the cost of this trip for each student and adult. We truly believe that because of this trip, our students will deepen their relationship with God as well as come back better equipped to BLESS others here at home.
Our community in East Montgomery and Pike Road continues to be one of Alabama’s fastest-growing regions. That presents an incredible opportunity for our church to show and share God’s love with even more people. We believe God has uniquely positioned VFC to BLESS those in our community for Christ and His Kingdom for a very long time.
Because “Love Gives,” Vaughn Forest can continue serving our community with no strings attached by meeting needs that arise in local schools through serve days and special projects. Through our Local Impact partnerships, we can also respond to pressing needs in the community as they arise. Some great examples from this past year include our ability to financially support The Grove (one of our partner ministries that helps girls aging out of foster care) when a specific need arose, as well as assisting our partner ministry Beauty By Fire (which cares for widows in our community) whenever needs have come up for them.
In addition, our facility functions as a hub for events in our community! While we never charge for community events that bring 1000’s onto our campus (by our count, over 7000 last year alone!), our “Love Gives” offering helps us be ready to say “Yes” to providing a clean, safe, and air-conditioned facility for our partners all year. Some examples of this include graduations, prison ministry trainings, and foster care groups.
Our NextGen Ministry is the fastest growing area in our church. Every week we are seeing new families and their children join us for the first time. Unfortunately, due to the design of our building and New Family Check-In area, many of these families end up waiting in line. While our volunteers are doing an AMAZING job serving those families, it is a simple fact that the layout of the area makes it a bit congested and results in lines.
We want to change that! Through “Love Gives”, our plan is to build a new area along the wall in the Breezeway that will give us better space for more check-in stations and more volunteer spots, which will make the whole process smoother, easier, and better for all. This will help our first-time families feel more welcomed and taken care of, so that they can get their kids to our great NextGen environments and to their adult discipleship areas where they can grow in Christ.
We believe that our God is a global God and that His heart is for “all nations” to come to know, love, worship Jesus (Matt 28:18-20). Since Vaughn Forest Church has a heart for God, we are working and praying for greater Global Impact in 2026. This year we’ll deepen our partner ministries in Mexico (building homes for the less fortunate in Ensenada), Cuba (supporting churches through our partnership with TREC International), and Trinidad (supporting our church planting partners in that nation).
Also, in 2026, the door has been opened for us to lean into new opportunities in Spain, as well as help equip leaders called to reach out to unreached people groups around the world. It’s truly an exciting time here at VFC, our prayer is that you will join us as “Love Gives” to make a Global Impact. Who knows, maybe God will even call you to join us on an international mission trip!
At Vaughn Forest Church, our regular offering is a faithful, proportionate tithe–10% of what God has entrusted to us. However, there are times when God calls us to give sacrificially, stretching our faith and trust in Him. The Special Christmas Offering is one of those moments, inviting us to go above and beyond our regular giving. This is an opportunity to respond to God’s incredible love by giving with a generous heart, reflecting His love to others.
In response to God’s generous love for us, we have set a goal of $125,000 for this Special Offering, inviting everyone to participate. Prayerfully consider what it looks like for you to give sacrificially, stretching your faith as you reflect on God’s boundless generosity. The amount you give is between you and God-whether it’s $5,000, $10,000, $100, or $500. What matters most is not equal giving, but equal sacrifice. What can you give that will stretch your trust in God’s provision?
You can give to the “Love Gives” Special Offering between now and January 31, 2026.
Visit vaughnforest.com/give, click on “Love Gives Special Offering,” and enter the amount you wish to give. It’s quick, simple, and secure.
Yes, our offering envelopes are postage-paid, so you can mail them anytime. Simply write “Love Gives” in the “other” line on the envelope, and it will be sent directly to our office. If you prefer to mail your check separately, our mailing address is:
Vaughn Forest Church
8660 Vaughn Road
Montgomery, AL 36117
Absolutely! As a 501(c)(3) organization, Vaughn Forest Church offers tax benefits for in-kind gifts. For more information, contact our financial administrator, Mary Hughes, at 334-279-5433 or email [email protected].
All gifts to Vaughn Forest Church, including regular offerings and the “Love Gives” Special Offering, are fully tax-deductible. Gifts made in 2024 will be deductible on your 2024 taxes. Please include your name and address when giving so we can send you a receipt for tax purposes. While using the tax deduction is not required, it is available for all gifts.
The $150,000 goal was prayerfully set by the leadership of Vaughn Forest Church. We believe in setting goals that stretch our faith while being attainable. Based on our current giving patterns, we trust this goal meets both criteria.
Please pray for God’s guidance as we give sacrificially. We will keep you updated on our progress through email and weekend worship services. Reaching this goal will be a celebration of what we can accomplish together as we stretch our faith, trusting in God’s leadership every step of the way.
If you have any questions about our Love Gives Special Offering, click here to email Executive Pastor of Operations Hardy Sellers.