Giving Blog

As of Nov. 1, 2017, we have received 224 pledges for $694,728. 224 pledges represents pledges from 40% of the pledge database. Our goal is 75% participation. 201 additional households will need to pledge to reach 75% participation. The average pledge is $3,101. The pledges range from $50 to $34,000. 64% of the total dollars represent increases in pledges by the same households. There are 18 new pledges. We are 38 days in the campaign, having begun Sept. 24, 2017. A year ago at 38 days out, we had 351 pledges for $876,488. Participation was 64% of the pledge database then with a 75% goal. The average pledge was $2,497. The pledges ranged from $50 to $33,000. 69% of the total amount represent increases in pledge by the same households. There were 47 new pledges. All pledge materials that were not picked up at church were mailed out this week. – Ben Hicks, Business Manager

In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus was asked what are God’s most important commandments. His answer was characteristically simple and profound: Give your heart, soul and mind to God. Love Him completely withall you have. And love your neighbors at least as much as you love yourself. But what does it really mean to love the Lord “with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind?” If we truly follow the Messiah, what does such love look like?

I spent decades working in the irreverent atmosphere of the modern newsroom. Yet the truth of Jesus’ words even percolated to the press. How many times did I hear editors quote the famous Watergate-era advice to investigative reporters: “Follow the money!” Actually, that phrase was not uttered by journalists Bob Woodward or Carl Bernstein or even editor Ben Bradlee. It was invented by a Hollywood screen writer. But it’s come to be widely recognized as sage guidance to understanding the machinations of politics — track the flow of money to learn where it came from and where it goes. It’s the same in our personal lives, too. After retirement from journalism, I find I’m still following the money. I became the Stewardship chairman at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Alexandria, Virginia. But I’m no longer looking for corruption and dirty dealing. Instead, the ministry of Stewardship helps turn our money into a fragrant offering to the Lord. We come to know money only has value when used as a means of worship.

-Thomas Hargrove: stewardship chair of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Alexandria, VA

This piece excerpted from the Diocese of Virginia’s “To You All Hearts Are Open” Stewardship Series. You can read the entire reflection here: Thomas Hargrove’s Stewardship Reflection (PDF link)

Recently when I mentioned our annual stewardship campaign to someone not a churchgoer, he asked – why do churches need to raise money? Won’t God take care of you? I replied by telling him that indeed, God does take care of us – and that we are God’s eyes and hands on this earth. There is the generous work of God that we all carry out every day – such as praying for those in need, meditating on our lot in life, which don’t normally need funding. But in this real world, one needs funds in order to carry out God’s work. We here at St. George’s engage ourselves and the larger community in many ways. With God’s help we have created a community we all love and want to be part of, and hold in God’s light. This is what brought me, a lonely widow completely unchurched, to St. George’s 15 years ago, and what keeps me here: our community that does God’s wonderful works.

In the 16th century, Saint Teresa of Avila said, “Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion is to look out to the world. Yours are the feet with which Christ is to go about doing good.” –Anne Beals, St. George’s Senior Warden

God has entrusted each of us with some bit of His creation—some set of abilities, skills, talents, time, opportunities, and resources—that we can use in our efforts to love God and love our neighbors. Bishop Catherine Waynick states that stewardship “acknowledges that all the things we count as ‘resources’ or as ‘blessings’ will never be ours to hoard, but are entrusted to us to be shared, nurtured, and used to fulfill God’s purposes.” I believe that God is inviting me to fall on the cornerstone of Christ Jesus and be broken to pieces, thereby freeing myself from this world’s notions of what is valuable. Only by being willing to be broken, can I be open enough to receive, and open enough to give. May we all receive what is truly valuable—God’s love and trust, and may we all happily become people who produce the fruits of God’s kingdom. –Allison Blanchard (a member of St. Alban’s, Annandale and a member of the Diocese of Virginia stewardship committee)

STEWARDSHIP REFLECTION: WHY DO YOU GIVE?

I remember taking coins tied into a handkerchief, and being reminded by my parents to put them in the offering plate. At the offertory, I remember the satisfying sound of my coins rattling against the shiny brass offering plates. I remember feeling proud that I’d made a contribution, that I was part of something bigger than myself, that I had something to offer.

When I was first married, and we began having children, I remember that we did not have a lot to give to the church at that time. Money was always tight! I remember being thankful, at that time, for the presence of the church, for that one hour of time I had with my husband to worship each week while our children were in the nursery, Sunday School, or choir. It provided what we needed to face the next week’s challenges. As our children grew, it was always comforting to have a place where we belonged, a place for our girls to learn about God, and life. I was quite aware, at that time, that there were those whose giving made possible all that we received, as individuals, and as a family, from our church home.

Now that our children are grown, and we are in a position to give more, I am grateful for the opportunity to “pay it forward,” as those faithful forebears had done. My gifts, once shared, become part of something bigger than myself, so that God’s glory continues to be revealed in myself, my family, fellow parishioners, the wider community and in the whole world. Thanks be to God!

-Karin Weber, Newcomer and Stewardship Commission member