2018 Online Pledge
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Each Sunday we offer up bread, wine, and our entire lives to God. We do this at the offertory in the moment just before the Eucharistic prayer begins. God is the giver of all good gifts, and everything we are and everything that we have comes from God. The bread, wine, money and the offering of ourselves at the Eucharist is a small way to give thanks for all that God has already given us.
Last year our annual stewardship drive invited us to Live Generously. This year the Stewardship committee, the vestry, and I invite you to think about living generously in All that we do, with All that we have, All of the time.
Our St. Matthew’s Celebration will take place on Sunday, September 24. The Stewardship Committee will hand out giving intention forms for 2018. In an attempt to invite more people to share what they plan to give to the church with the church, we are trying out the term “giving intention” where we previously and currently use the word “pledge”. Your giving intention for 2018 and your pledge will be one and the same. The Stewardship program this year seeks to encourage more people who worship in this community to think about how what we do in church translates into how we are called to be givers.
This year St. Matthew’s created a new logo, and we will have red t-shirts available at the luncheon on September 24 with the new logo on it. The stewardship committee will give our shirts with “giving intention” forms with the hope that we can shorten the time that the vestry asks for the 2018 forms this fall. When you receive your shirt(s), a member of the committee will ask you to promise that you will turn in your form before the follow up vestry calls. They will begin in early November.
St. Matthew’s strives to be a generous parish. Some of our members tithe, giving ten percent of their income to the church, while others commit a certain percentage, make a one-time annual gift, or give, as they are able. Although giving levels vary in the congregation, what is important is that all of us are asked to make a gift that reflects our commitment to living an abundant and generous life, and to let the vestry know that there will be funds available for our ministries next year. It takes just over $2,000/day for St. Matthew’s to carry out our current ministries, and we are always discerning what else we are called to do in our community and in the world.
I am so grateful for you, and that you are a part of the St. Matthew’s community. I am personally grateful to count you as a companion in Christ and to serve alongside you here at St. Matthew’s.
Faithfully,
The Rev. Kelly Kirby, Rector
My 2018 Pledge