Our first issue of this year’s "Stewardship Notes" was distributed at all services yesterday and sent via email to all church members today. Before you say, “What? Already? Here we go again.” . . . imagine how I feel!
It could be a difficult environment that’s for sure. I have just finished reading a report that indicates charitable giving fell in the United States in 2009 3.6%, the largest decline since the 1970’s. Churches did better – a decrease of .7% - but as Stacy Palmer of the Chronicle of Philanthropy writes, “It’s still going to be a long time before most non-profit groups are raising as much as they did before the recession began.” I know that to be true; I suspect most of us know that.
At St. John’s we did remarkably well in 2009. It was, financially, our best year ever. And our pledges for this year rose about 20% to almost $700,000. There were a variety of reasons for that, but some of you wrote me notes to say why, despite sometime personal hardship, your pledge rose for this year. The stories told of how your children developed a personal relationship with Christ in the past year that was totally unexpected and caused the parents to reflect differently on their faith. Other stories told of being touched personally when their lives were crumbling by a caring Stephen Minister. Most stories, however, said something like, “Please accept my pledge/gift to St. John’s for the coming year. I am doing this because of what you do for the people in the community.” It was as often as not signed by someone who does not attend church here.
Fr. Buddy Stallings, Vicar of St. Bartholomew’s in NYC, reminds us in his blog that Jesus did not shy away from the chaos and messiness of human life. Jesus spent time with sinners, displaying mercy, not superiority. While many walked by the hungry or broken, he stopped. That’s what we try to do here. People hunger for many things. We try to feed. People’s lives are shattered over a variety of losses. We bind wounds. Stewardship Notes upcoming this summer and fall will tell you how we do that every day.
I hope you will write me and propose new ways we can be of more assistance to members of the parish, all 1000 or so of you, and to the larger community.
Let’s not rest on our laurels or stay in our comfort zone. Let’s join Jesus, and serve.
Beloved, God’s peace.
