Rector's Note: Tell out Your Soul this Stewardship Season-10.9.25

Stewardship season is again upon us. This Sunday 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 2026 financial giving. That in turn helps us anticipate income as we draft our 2026 budget.

This year’s theme is “Tell Out My Soul,” from the hymn by Timothy Dudley-Smith, which evokes Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:48-55), as she proclaims the greatness of the Lord and all that God has done for her and her people Israel. This praise pours out of her own story as well, as Mary, who is miraculously pregnant with Jesus, greets her cousin Elizabeth, who is miraculously pregnant with John the Baptist. They are not bystanders in the work of God but active participants, and it brings them great joy.

In our Stewardship Pledge Campaign this year we’ll have opportunities to “tell out” the ways that we are participating in God’s work here at St. Peter’s and discern how we will continue to support it through our ongoing investments of “time, talent and treasure.” This year we have several new ways to be part of the conversation:

• Sign up for a Stewardship Connection potluck meal at a parishioner’s home, where we’ll share our stories of involvement over a meal with fellow members.

• Reflect on how the Sunday scriptures call out your own story through Stewardship reflection guides in the Sunday leaflet. You can drop off your brief reflections in marked baskets in the church and parish hall. We’ll post them through the month.

• Visit the Stewardship Bulletin board in the hallway leading to the parish hall and take an autumn service leaf from the tree to learn more about ways to invest your time and talent at St. Peter’s. Each leaf contains a QR link to a ministry or service opportunity you can get involved in. Keep the leaf in a prominent place during Stewardship season as a reminder to pray for this ministry and all who benefit from it.

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

Healthy stewardship allows us to dream big and to discern well what God is calling us to do as a church whose souls tell out their love for God and one another loudly and proudly.

This year, we invite everyone to prayerfully consider what they can afford to bring to this goal in 2026. 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 giving for 2026. 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 the Stewardship mailing that went out this week. Plan to bring them to St. Peter’s on Ingathering Sunday, Nov. 16, when we place them in St. Peter’s fishing boat as part of our ingathering ritual. You can also indicate your pledge online using this link. 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 for last year, when 49 households made pledges by Ingathering Sunday and 65 had pledged by the end of December. At that time, a total of $161,415 was pledged.

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. Our budget goal is to raise $225,000 in annual giving by the end of 2025. The 2026 budget is currently being developed by the Finance Committee and Vestry.

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, I have all confidence that there will be much for our souls to tell out about all that God has made possible in our vibrant faith community.