A Weekly Stewardship Reflection, Sunday, November 12, 2017
By: Jane duFrane and Fay Lohr, Stewardship co-chairs
We love witnessing how our gifts open the way at St. Mary’s to life-transforming ministries at our church, and in our local community, state, and around the globe. Over the past six weeks you have heard from different parishioners about their Stewardship journeys and what St. Mary’s means to them and their families.
Since the beginning of this year, your gifts have opened the way by accompanying parishioners on a retreat to the Society of St. John the Evangelist; sponsoring youth weekends at Shrine Mont Retreat Center; sending staff, parishioners, and youth on four different mission trips around the world; hosting a CARITAS shelter for homeless families; mailing hundreds of cards to families with new babies, ill family members, familial losses, and birthdays through our pastoral care teams; offering a fantastic Vacation Bible School; and collecting food for over 50 families through Goochland Free Clinic and Family Services. That names only some of the vibrant ministries here at St. Mary’s.
These ministries – and many more – are profoundly relevant to those in our congregation, the community that surrounds us, and to God, who opens our hearts, hands, and souls to do His work with those known and unknown. Our ministries open boxes of food, windows of hope, and minds of creative and joyous wonder. Our ministries open up each of us to our own gifts, some yet unknown, and to paths not seen before.
“A Gift Opens the Way” is a call to action for each of us: to worship together and open ourselves to the Word of God, know the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives, and respond to the nudges of the Holy Spirit. It is a call to respond with the time, talent, and treasure that God has given you.
Our mission at St. Mary’s calls us toward intentional generosity, including financial commitments. Some members tithe, giving ten percent of their income to the church; some members give proportionally, committing a certain percentage to our ministries; others give as they are able. What is important is that you open your heart to God, beginning as you are able, to support and sustain our life of ministry at St. Mary’s and in God’s Kingdom.
Your commitment to our Annual Giving Campaign is an essential gift that fuels St. Mary’s transformational ministries in Richmond and beyond. Your gift opens the way!