Stewardship: "I" Is for Imagine, "P" Is for Pray
Stewardship begins and ends with the understanding of God's ownership of all. Stewardship can be summarized as observing, caring for, and protecting the gifts that God has entrusted to us. Over the past few weeks, the bulletin has been featuring brief "word bites" on different aspects of Stewardship. "S" stood for sharing our treasure, talents, and skills; "T" for tithing, giving according to our hearts; "E" for being good stewards of the environment; "W" for worship; "A" for access to God's house; "R" for reverence; "D" for devoting our time and talents to God's work; "S" for sustaining St. Philip's ministries with our time and treasure; and "H" for helping others, individually and as a community.

"I" represents "imagine," among other terms. Inspired by God's love, we Imagine what ministries we could support with our gifts and our Involvement.

"P" represents "prayer," which can accomplish the impossible if we have faith. Pray for guidance in making a financial commitment to God's work. When we attempt great things for God, we can expect to receive great things from God.

God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8)


Covenant! 2010 Update
The Covenant! 2010 brochure illustrates how our budget dollars and our wealth of volunteers make St. Philip's many ministries possible. If you have not yet pledged, we ask you to prayerfully consider the value you place on your membership in St. Philip's and join us on this important discipleship pilgrimage. Your financial commitment through a pledge gives us confidence that we can plan fearlessly for staff, programs, and servant ministries that do God's work in our Parish and community. Initial returns are encouraging. As of November 11, 385 pledgers have made commitments totaling $775,284. That is an increase of $79,517 over the dollars pledged by these same persons last year. It is also an increase of $48,499 over the pledge total at the end of the seventh week of last year's campaign. Thank you for your continued support, which is vital as we strive to continue and to build our ministries in this mission-oriented faith community.

Pledge materials are available on St. Philip's Web site.


Labyrinth Committee
Meditation labyrinths are of ancient origin and are used throughout the world "to quiet the mind, recover a balance in life, and encourage meditation, insight, self-reflection, stress reduction, and to discover innovation and celebration." (Veriditas.org)
 
Many parishoners have enjoyed walking and praying the labyrinths at Grace-St. Paul's and St. Michael and All Angels parishes or other locations, and there is much parish interest in having a meditation labyrinth at St. Philip's. A group of St. Philippians is forming a committee to work toward installing a permanent labyrinth at St. Philip's. We will explore viable locations on the St. Philip's campus, design options, construction options and costs, and fundraising opportunities, and will work with the Buildings & Grounds Committee and the Vestry to obtain all necessary approvals for the final project. Meeting dates and times and the project timeline will be established once the Committee is formed. We need your help and input - please join us!

Having a meditation labyrinth at St. Philip's was a frequent "dream" during the Mission Discernment process.
 
As part of the four-week Advent season, which begins on November 29, the new Labyrinth Committee is planning four "labyrinth walks," followed by fellowship and discussion opportunities, at different locations around town. Dates, locations, and specific activities are still being finalized - please watch for updates!
 
If you are interested in volunteering for the Labyrinth Committee or joining us for one or more of the Advent labyrinth activities, please e-mail Eric Rau or call 440-7287, or Brigid Waszczak or call 577-7792.


School Christmas Project Seeks Help
Kim Nelson, who has faithfully coordinated the Christmas project for five years, has taken over the food pantry ministry and is unable to continue her role in coordinating the Christmas project. The person who initially offered to take over this project is no longer a parishioner at St. Philip's. Due to these circumstances, the Outreach Commission is trying to find a way to continue this important ministry. Last year, Outreach raised more than $11,000 for four schools: Richey, Rio Vista, Mission View, and Imago Dei. Because we are already behind in this year's project, we have opted to reduce the number of schools we will serve to two or, if possible, three. We arrived at this decision after considering the needs that are met through our donations. Our first two priorities are Richey and Rio Vista. If we can raise enough, we will also support Imago Dei.

Over the years, St. Philippians have been extraordinarily generous with their gifts to the Christmas Project. The cash donations made to this ministry have gone directly to providing sweatshirts to keep elementary school children warm during cold winter days and to providing a change of clothes to children who have only one or two changes of clothes. The donations have helped to maintain electric or gas service to families who were at risk for having their utilities turned off. Our donations also have provided eye glasses to children who could not see the blackboard or read the print in their text books. Monies have been used to meet transportation needs, and provide medication for a child with asthma. These are just a few examples of the good works that have been performed with the generous donations from St. Philippians.

In the meantime, we are working to maintain this ministry without a full time coordinator. If you would like to assist us in helping to fulfill this seasonal but important ministry, please e-mail Laura Fairbanks at outreach@stphilipstucson.org or call 743-0084.


In the Media ...
Read about St. Philip's Renouf/Nelson Library Book Sale in the Arizona Daily Star, check out Blessing of the Animals photos on Guy Atchley's web site (click on "blessing") and also on St. Philip's Facebook group page, and don't miss the article in the Bishop's latest E-Pistle about St. Philip's After School Music and Homework Program.