Annual Giving

Every fall, we invite, encourage and challenge people to make a commitment to our Annual Giving.  The theme for this year is Feasting on Gratitude.  

 Storytelling is an important aspect of our teaching the spirituality of giving and the need of the giver to give.  Click on the Storytelling link to the left to view this year's storys of gratitude.

 Begin with this letter from our 2012 Stewardship Chair:

Dear Fellow St. Georgians,

Each year as students return to school, temperatures cool, and the trees don their finest fall foliage I can’t help but reflect on my life and count my many blessings.  Perhaps it is a result of Thanksgiving fast approaching, the fellowship of family and friends at the annual parish retreat, or the annual pledge campaign.  Whatever the reason, this lull between summer “vacation” and the hustle and bustle of the holidays, always gets me reflecting on the things for which I am grateful. 

            This past Sunday provided a prime example of that which I speak.  As I sat in my family's regular pew, I viewed the altar, adorned with flowers, arranged with love and care by the flower guild and listened to the choir sing the anthem accompanied by the new organ with the awe of a child viewing and hearing these gifts for the first time.  It became apparent to me in that moment how blessed I am to have such a beautiful space in which to worship and I recognized that the generosity of fellow St. Georgians made these gifts possible through donations of their time, talents and money.  It is this same generosity that makes possible the many, varied ministries and missions at St. George’s including children’s ministry, outreach, Our Little Roses, Notre Dame Parish in Haiti, community dinner, Saturday Night Supper, Education for Ministry, and the food pantry to name only a few.

            The theme of this year’s pledge campaign is “Feasting on Gratitude.”  This theme is wonderfully descriptive and as I reflected on it in prayer a number of thoughts and pictures kept coming to mind.  When I focused on feasting words such as bounty, abundance, fellowship, and fruitfulness came to mind.  Gratitude, in turn, evoked thoughts of thankfulness, grace, blessing, love and humility.  I found myself picturing thanksgiving dinner with my family growing up.  This event, regularly attended by 16 or more family members, usually had enough food to feed a small army.  I saw my family sitting around the table after dinner, having filled our selves past full with the sundry foods, communing with each other in a way that time rarely allowed for during the busier parts of the year.

            As we prepare as a parish for our annual pledge campaign I ask that you join me and my family in prayer and reflection.  Take time to “Feast on Gratitude,” to become full of thankfulness, to recognize the abundance of God’s Grace in your life, to embrace the bounty of love offered to you and to envision the fruitfulness of humility in the world.  Ask God to reveal to you the many blessings in your life and reflect on how you might use these gifts so that others may also “Feast on Gratitude.”

 

Yours in Christ,

 

Bethany Friesner

Stewardship Commission Chair