Giving/Stewardship
Stewardship is all that I do, with all that I have, after I say “I believe.” All that we have and all that we are is a gift from God. We are merely stewards of God's gifts during our lifetime. Discerning and carrying out God's purpose for us is the primary purpose of our lives. The gifts we have been given--time, talent, and money--should be returned to God through work in his church. Giving is a significant spiritual discipline. St. Paul's Church encourages giving by providing a variety of opportunities to give of your time, talents, and treasure. Each fall we ask our members to make a formal pledge to the Annual Operating Fund. However, stewardship is a year round focus in our parish. As faithful stewards of our individual “gifts” from God many parishioners contribute gifts of time and share their talents across various ministries all year long. To learn more about giving of your time and talent, visit the parish life and outreach sections of our site. These types of “giving” are a joyful response to God's generosity to us.
2011 Operating Fund Pledge Drive: A Letter from the St. Paul's Vestry Dear People of St. Paul’s: Last year at this time, we embarked on our Lighting the Way Every Member Canvass, which engaged all of our parishioners in a discussion about St. Paul’s and how we support the church in ministry and in stewardship. We also discussed our vision for St. Paul’s mission and how we could better seek to inspire and serve in God’s name.
Today we are seeing the fruits of our labor. Our two new worship services are thriving. Our ministries and our youth and adult education programs have been reinvigorated. We will begin a new partnership in the greater community with Head Start this school year, while within our own church community, our membership continues to grow. Our blessings are numerous, and we are doing the work God has given us to do.
But one part of our mission continues to challenge us.
Although our 2011 Annual Operating Fund pledge drive will be quieter than last year’s, it will be just as important. We must meet our fundamental financial obligations, but we also seek to fund the transformational ministries that we and our greater community need. In short, we must keep the lights on while shining as a light to the Glory of God through service to others. In order to do both, we must shore up our operating budget and increase our financial resources. This requires your financial support.
We ask each member household to make a pledge, however large or small, to the 2011 Operating Fund. We enclose a pledge card for this purpose, which we ask you to return by mail or in the offering plate by Pledge Sunday on October 24. To assist you in your prayerful consideration of what you will give next year, please avail yourself of the valuable information on our website about the Annual Budget, the biblical injunction to tithe, and proportional giving. The website also provides other ways to give, including matching gifts from your employer. You can even pledge on line in lieu of using the enclosed pledge card.
We also encourage you to take advantage of automatic withdrawl. Simply fill out the Electronic Payment Option form attached to the pledge card. Please fill this out if you are renewing automatic withdrawl, as well. We enclose additional information about the Electronic Payment Option in this letter.
We are a blessed congregation at St. Paul’s. It is our duty to be stewards of our church, to serve each other, and to minister to those in need. We can do these only with your promise of support.
St. Paul’s Vestry
Harry Baldwin Senior Warden
BJ Martino Junior Warden
CJ Reid Treasurer
Lisa Eskew Register
Tim Adams
Larry Campbell
Richard Bolton
John Elwood
Diana Forbes
Laura Francis
Karen Grane
Wells Goddin
Stan Krejci
Bo Miller
Jim Norman
Anthony Marasco
Scott Broetzmann
Peter Williams
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