Get your pledge cards ready!
Our Walk in Love Stewardship Campaign will conclude this Sunday – December 8 – and the Wardens and Clergy of St. Peter's are inviting all parishioners who have not yet completed their pledge cards to do so, and drop them in the offering plate on Sunday. In case you don't have a pledge card handy, a PDF is attached to this article – and you can also complete the card online. We'll say a special blessing on all the pledge cards received (including the ones from previous weeks and the ones submitted online) during our Prayer over the Gifts on Sunday.
For those still discerning how God is calling you to contribute to the ministry of St. Peter's in 2025 and beyond (both financially and otherwise), we're pleased to provide two reflections this week – Authenticity (attached), which is part of the campaign package provided by our Diocese – as well as the Words from our Wardens that we shared last week (below).
Words from our Wardens
The 2024 Stewardship Campaign will soon be nearing its conclusion, which is a cause for reflection of the past year and for the vision of growing the church, of spreading the Gospel in this neighbourhood and beyond. It takes resources to grow God's Kingdom. It takes our time, it takes our talents, it takes people and yes, it takes money.
To paraphrase Esther 4:14, perhaps you have been entrusted with the resources you have "for such a time as this."
Giving is not easy. Yes, we can make all of the tools available, such as the pledge cards in the Setting Sail newsletter and church bulletins, preauthorized bank withdrawals or credit cards. But the final decision and resolve is yours to make from your heart and in the spirit of love. Each of us is encouraged to reflect on how God is calling us to contribute.
Your church, your community, has a fiscal challenge. As many of you know, it is currently operating on a monthly deficit. Your clergy and council are therefore challenged to appeal to you, in the spirit of good will, in the spirit of love and giving. Yes, we know that this challenge causes us to confront the conflicting priorities and pressures of our personal lives, our ongoing basic needs and desires to do good in the name of God and of Jesus Christ.
God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7), but nobody says you have to be happy about it right away. As Sir Winston Churchill said during World War 2, "In finance, everything that is agreeable is financially unsound, and everything that is financially sound is disagreeable."
May the Holy Spirit guide you.
As we've shared in financial updates in 2024, last year's stewardship campaign has borne significant fruit, and the Wardens and Clergy of St. Peter's want to thank all parishioners for their responsiveness, faithfulness and generosity. We have every confidence that it will continue to multiply and expand through this campaign and in the months and years ahead.