Making Plenty Good Room this Stewardship Season-10.8.26

Stewardship season is again upon us. On Sunday, Oct. 18, we will kick off our month of reflection and discernment of how we give our time, talent, and treasure, culminating in Ingathering Sunday on Nov. 16. On that day, individuals submit their financial pledges, estimating their 2027 financial giving. That, in turn, helps us anticipate income as we draft our 2027 budget.

This year’s theme is “Plenty Good Room” from the Spiritual of the same name.  In God’s house there is always room for more: more ideas, more people, more ways to share, more stories to tell. And in the world that God created, there is room for more love, more connection, more peace, more creativity. Plenty Good Room reminds us that there is always room in God’s house; we just need to make ourselves at home and invite others to join us. The ways we steward our relationships, resources, and responses to grow ministry and serve our neighbors are the ways we connect our gratitude to our generosity. There’s plenty of good room in God’s House, and you can choose the seat that fits you best.

In our St. Peter’s Stewardship Pledge Campaign this year, we’ll have plenty of opportunities to bring our own gifts to the table in God’s house over the next several weeks.

• Sign up for the upcoming Stewardship Dinner, where participants will share stories of involvement over a potluck meal at a parishioner’s home. Fill out the form HERE if you’re interested in hosting a meal in the future. We’re continuing these popular meals year-round as a way to get to know others in the St. Peter’s community.

• Visit the Stewardship Bulletin board in the hallway leading to the parish hall to fill the table of plenty with gifts that you bring to St. Peter’s. Coming soon!

• Look for pledge cards, videos and reflections soon to help gather our thanksgiving and our gifts this Stewardship Season.

  
  

Healthy stewardship allows us to dream big and discern well what God is calling us to do as a church, where we make room for people to share their gifts in so many ways.

This year we invite everyone to prayerfully consider what they can afford to bring to this goal in 2027. Pledging is a deeply personal and prayerful act, involving an honest assessment of one’s financial health compared to the previous year.  Read my 2023 blog posts on how to prayerfully discern one’s treasure as well as how to discern giving time and talent. The lessons from our past campaigns still apply today.

Remember that the stewardship pledge is just an estimate of your financial giving for 2027. It can be adjusted up or down and ultimately will take the form of what you can afford to offer to help sustain St. Peter’s staffing and programming throughout the year.

Look for your pledge cards in an upcoming Stewardship mailing. Plan to bring them to St. Peter’s on Ingathering Sunday, Nov. 15, when we place them in St. Peter’s fishing boat as part of our ingathering ritual.   Details are coming soon on how to pledge online if you prefer.  Just note it on your pledge card when you drop it off on Ingathering Sunday.

Your actual financial giving can come in weekly contributions placed in the collection plate, in gifts made online, or scheduled regularly. 

Our goal for this year’s Stewardship Campaign is to surpass our figures from last year, when 54 households made pledges by Ingathering Sunday, and 61 had pledged by the end of December. At that time, a total of  $178,959  was pledged – more than $10,000 over the previous year’s commitments.

Our actual annual giving numbers typically exceed our pledged amounts, as some parishioners give regularly without pledging, and those who join the parish after pledge season often establish regular contributions later that year. Our budget goal is to raise $200,000 in annual giving by the end of 2026, and of late we’ve been running ahead of monthly budget projections. Budget planning for 2027 will soon begin.

On this year’s pledge card you’ll notice that there is also space to capture other ways to share time and talent. Stewardship, after all, is more than fundraising. It is comprehensive caregiving for the parish and its mission and ministry. And this we know is something that happens in hours spent in ministry, and fellowship and worship and more.

This past year has been an exciting time of growth, as we’ve welcomed new parishioners, celebrated new ministries and ministry leaders, and continued time-honored programs and traditions. As we enter a new program year and anticipate our financial and spiritual health moving forward, there are so many ways make room in our father’s house for discipleship, celebration and love.

Special thanks go to our Stewardship Team, Rebecca Fellerman, Julia Guerrero and Charlese Freeman-Benoit, who have helped design a creative and interactive Stewardship Campaign this year.