Glory to God, whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Glory to God from generation to generation, in the Church and in Christ Jesus, now and forever.(Ephesians 3:20-21)
Dear Friends,
This past Easter, as we read the post communion prayer from Ephesians, the phrase “from generation to generation” really spoke to me. This year has been marked by so much change in the world that I was struck by this subtle reminder that there are many ways in which we are carried every day by constancy and continuity.
Our congregation is also experiencing change this year. We have two groups working to help us start framing and exploring who we are and desire to be as a community in this specific place and time (the College for Congregational Development and Faith Land Discernment teams). The work in front of us is to consider how we are going to create a common life together that both honors the generations that came before us and nurtures a healthy future for the generation that will come after us.
So the Stewardship Committee decided on a theme for this year’s annual pledge campaign that we can carry over and revisit in the next few years as we go on this journey together: what we hold in common. It resonated this year because it acknowledges what we hold in common with our ancestors in the faith, as well as the things we hope the ones coming after us will carry into the future.
As Mother Maria wrote in her letter, together we share a “joyful, messy, beautiful, common life at Christ Church”. This place is what it is because we all bring our talents, our hard work, our quirks, our questions, our strong opinions, and our loving touches to everything we do and have here together. But our common life as it is also requires staff salaries, utility bills, and paper towels. So this is the time of year when we also ask you to also consider what you can contribute financially to our common life.
Last fall, we gave very generously and contributed over $410,000. This was a necessary increase that moved us away from a dependence on rapidly shrinking investment funds. Thank you. Your gifts have carried us through a year that sometimes felt far from guaranteed. And we have not just survived, but stitched together a year rich in beautiful shared moments.
Costs have gone up for the church just as they have for so many of our personal households. To comfortably fund our ideal budget, we need to gather $450,000 in pledges this year. That is our ambitious but completely honest, blue-sky number. Please consider what you can contribute to our life in common in the coming year and fill out the enclosed pledge card. You can either mail it back to the church office or place it in the collection plate on Sunday. But please return them by or on in-gathering Sunday, November 2nd.
Thank you,
Brianne Knudson
Stewardship Chair, Christ Episcopal Church
