This Sunday is Ingathering Sunday, the day that parishioners bring up their pledge cards as part of the offertory procession. Our theme this year is Walk in Love. After several weeks of parishioner talks, theme-song singing and videos celebrations of parishioners’ gifts, Ingathering Sunday is the time for all of us to “walk in love” by entering the offertory procession, pledge card in hand. Families can come together to drop off their card together. Little ones can make their own pledge if they like.
To participate, please fill out and bring the pledge card that you received in the mail to the 10 a.m. service. Blank pledge cards will also be available at the entrances to the worship space. If you can’t make it on Sunday, you can mail us your card, drop it in the plate the next Sunday you are with us, or you can pledge online.
Offertory, that time when we bring up the bread, the wine and the wagon of items for the food pantry, as well as filled collection plates, is a great time to add our pledges to the mix. That’s because we are bringing up gifts not only for God’s blessing, but for their transformation. In the Eucharist that follows, the bread and wine are transformed into Jesus’ real presence, his body and his blood. The cash that is collected enters the discretionary fund to respond to people’s needs for food or financial support. Our ongoing donations become programs, building repairs, and staff. The food in the wagon becomes sustenance for people who are hungry.
On Ingathering Sunday when we enter the offertory procession with our pledge cards, we are transformed as well. We offer our intention to serve and to support and to be the Body of Christ, and God provides us with the grace we need to see it through. While we don’t need to disclose what is on those cards to the people around us, we do make a visible affirmation of our participation in the work of the church – in Sunday worship and beyond.
If you already turned in your card or made a pledge online, thanks for getting the stewardship ball rolling! You can still be part of the offertory procession and drop a fresh card into our Stewardship boat. Just note on the card that you have already pledged.
Here are some additional things to keep in mind as you prepare for Ingathering Sunday this week.
Any level of financial support that you might anticipate for 2025 is welcome. Please prayerfully consider what you can afford. This is only an estimate, which you can adjust up or down as need be as the year progresses.
Please note that the back of the pledge card features a place where you can indicate other types of stewardship, such as participating in parish ministries and outreaches or sharing your special skills. If you are seeking to be part of a ministry for the first time, we will connect you with the appropriate ministry leader. You can learn more about the opportunities that are available for ministry and outreach here.
To help parishioners track their giving for their personal records and for tax purposes, we mail out periodic reports that detail what you have given so far. If you would like your gift to be anonymous, you do not have to put your name on the pledge card. Please note that without your name, we cannot send you a notice for tax purposes.
After the service, our Walk in Love continues during Fellowship, when we will participate in the ancient walking prayer of the labyrinth. St. Martin-in-the-Fields in Chestnut Hill has loaned us their portable labyrinth, modeled after the one in Our Lady of Chartes Cathedral in France. We’ll also share our hopes for our walk of faith in the upcoming year and discuss what shape that walk might take.
In addition to being a time of giving, Ingathering Sunday is also a time of thanksgiving. I share the deep gratitude of the Vestry and leadership of St. Peter’s for the powerful gift that this community of faith is to one another and the wider world. Every act of prayer, worship, learning, service, care, listening, fellowship, maintenance and outreach is an action of the Body of Christ making a difference to those around us. It is a joy to behold and a blessing to be part of. Thank you for all you contribute to our journey to Walk in Love.
Rev. Barb
Kommentare