Stewardship Reflection, Sunday, October 6, 2019
By: Patsy Simril
Friends, when you pledge to St. Mary’s, you will receive a thank you card featuring a lovely photograph of David baptizing a baby. The Stewardship Committee chose that picture because that is where all of this church stuff begins.
Recently, I had to prepare a reflection for my Education For Ministry Class which I was dreading. Fortunately, I found a funny birthday card that made me laugh and then think. It features a butterfly driving a flashy sportscar who was stopped by a policeman, and she is showing him her driver’s license. The license shows a picture of a caterpillar, and she says to him, “That’s an old photo.” Inside, the card reads, “I love the way you are evolving.” That sums up pretty well my feelings about you, us, and St. Mary’s. We are all evolving in so many beautiful ways.
When we are baptized, we start our journey with people who love us, making promises and pledges to God on our behalf. We slowly evolve into people who question, search, and strive to be the best we can be. There are three components of strengthening our faith: prayer, study, and fellowship. Each is equally important, and I believe God loves to see us use our time, gifts, and talents to explore each one. That sounds like a lot of commitment, but when you attend St. Mary’s, you can get all three at a time. The more you visit, the more you receive, the more you evolve into that butterfly.
As a member of the Stewardship Committee, I ask that you consider increasing your participation in our church life and generously sharing your time, talents, and gifts with our church. I am happy and proud of the way our church is evolving, and I believe God feels the same way. How else can we explain the many gifts we have here–from our beautiful church and grounds to the welcoming and talented staff and clergy? Let’s keep our evolution and momentum going!