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Giving Thanks, and Helping to Sustain Our Many Blessings
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Stewardship at Grace Episcopal Church
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Welcome to the Grace Operating Budget Annual Stewardship Campaign. Are you new to Grace? Do you find your self wondering what this is about? Is pledging to a church a new idea for and to you? Perhaps you have been around here for a while and are ready to pledge. Maybe you want to know more about the ministries of Grace or how we spend what you give.
This email is designed to answer those questions. In many ways, it is a guide to what faithful giving is in the eyes of the Episcopal Church. You will find the theological reasons as well as the practical reasons for making a pledge.
Like any organization, it takes funds to live out the programs and run the building at Grace. So, every year, we invite people to give prayerful consideration as to how they/you can financially support the Church. Your pledge helps us to know how to put together the budget for the year. It gives you an opportunity to take a moment to think about how you might give thanks to God for the blessings in your life and for the ways that the Grace community has been a part of that.
Take a moment to read all of the information. Read and still have questions? Call me or email me.
Thanks so much for being a part of this time in our history.
-Shawn
708-386-8036
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Dear Grace Church member,
Catholic priest and theologian Daniel Groody tells a story from the years he spent working along the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona. One summer day, as the temperature approached 120 degrees, the aid organization Groody worked with sent a group of volunteers out to offer food and life-saving water to immigrants making their way through the desert.
The volunteers spotted a group of about 20 people, and called out to them to ask if they had any water or food. After a brief silence, the immigrants called back to the strangers that though they didn't have any more food, they did have a little water left, and would share it if the volunteers needed it.
These desert travelers were willing to share boldly from their poverty. Groody observes that this story reveals as much or more about the inner journey and spiritual strength of these migrants as it does about their dangerous geographical trek.
What might we learn from them about what it means to give out of our gratitude for God's work in our lives thus far? What can they teach us about how to be good stewards of the resources God has entrusted to us?
In this season of giving thanks, the Vestry, staff, and wider Grace Church community are grateful for all the ways that you have shared your time, talent and treasure with the church and beyond. Because of you we have been able to accomplish so much together over the past year. In 2013 alone we have:
- Hired a new director of formation, which has been a major goal of Grace for several years, and which will help us grow deeper in our common life and faith.
- Convened a group that's deeply committed to liturgy at Grace, and is thinking creatively about how we might enrich our worship life.
- Convened monthly Benedictine prayer and soup supper meetings.
- Launched a newcomers' ministry to help Grace live into its welcoming mission.
- Enjoyed another successful year of fundraisers that have brought new faces and new energy to our work and have brought added financial stability.
And even as this important work continues, ongoing financial obligations that support the daily activities of Grace Church remain. With that in mind, we are writing today to ask that you make a pledge to the 2014 Operating Budget.
Your timely pledge allows us to effectively plan for our financial commitments throughout the year. That's why we are seeking your 2014 pledge commitment by Sunday, December 1, 2013.
We are targeting $270,000 in pledge income for 2014. Full funding will allow us to support:
- Outreach programs Salaries for our dedicated Rector and staff
- Two Sunday Services
- Our many music ministries for all ages
- Heat, light, and other aspects of maintaining our beautiful physical space
- Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, Rite 13, and other faith formation materials and programs
A full list of our ministries supported by our annual budget can be found on the church's website (www.GraceOakPark.org).
Keep an eye and ear open in the coming weeks as members of our congregation share, in e-Items and during Sunday announcements, how the Grace community has impacted their lives. Hearing their stories will help you think about where God and the church are at work in your life.
We thank you for supporting the mission and ministries of Grace Church. Let us continue to hold one another in prayer as we continue to discern how God invites us to share our resources with those around us.
-The Grace Church Stewardship Team
Cathy, Joanne, Nadia, Mark, Chris, Cherryl and Eric
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Christian Stewardship is:
- the proper and generous use of our time, talent and money;
- all that we do with our lives
- about joyfully returning to God a portion of all the gifts which God has so generously showered upon us
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A pledge is a promise. A pledge to Grace Church is a promise that we will share our resources within our faith community. Your pledge allows your Vestry to budget for program, staff, worship, outreach and facility upkeep throughout the year. Beyond that, pledging also allows us to reflect on the ways we, as individuals and as a community, can share some of what we have with others. Your pledge, then, is a promise to yourself, the faith community at Grace Church, and our community at large.
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Determining Your Pledge to Grace
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How much should I give? That answer, of course, is completely up to you. As you think about your pledge for 2014, consider what we call "proportional giving." In other words, think about what percentage you can offer to God by supporting the work of Grace Church.
Ask yourself whether you could increase your pledge by $5, $10, or $20 per week. For some, that's not possible at this time. For others, that extra amount is about the same as a few stops each week at your local coffee shop or a movie ticket.
This extra money can go a long way toward supporting Grace's ministries and keeping our budget solvent throughout the year. You might think that your increased pledge amount won't make much of difference in Grace's overall budget. But it does! And it will continue to pay dividends to Grace and our community for years to come.
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Pledges amounted to 67% (or $261,500) of our 2013 budget. Pledges actually made totaled $239,268. We believe we can, and need to reach - and even exceed - our 2014 budgeted amount.
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What Programs / Ministries Are Supported by Your Pledge Dollars?
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Supporting the ministries of Grace Church requires about $400,000 in a typical year. Here is a just a partial list of what your pledge dollars support:
- Outreach ministries
- Salaries for Shawn, Douglas, Dennis, and Nick (our priest, administrator, musician and director of lifelong Christian formation)
- Two Sunday Services and weekday services
- Music for the Choirs
- Robes for Chalice Bearers and The Choir
- Vestments for Acolytes
- Heat and Light
- Salary for Mother Alice with our Partner Parish in the Sudan
- Certificates for Baptism
- Sitters for the Nursery
- Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Materials
- Meeting Rooms for all Ministries
- Stephen Ministry Training
- Wine for Communion
- Telephone
- Internet & Website
- Snow Removal
- Lawn Cutting
- Food and Supplies for PADS guests
- Adult and Youth Formation
- Space for several 12-Step groups, concerts, movies
Of course, a list cannot begin to convey the difference these ministries have made in the lives of the Grace community and the community at large.
Your pledge dollars support these very worthy activities that take place every day and every week at Grace Church. There's more that we want to accomplish in 2014. Your pledge dollars will help us realize these goals.
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It doesn't take a big increase in your pledge to make a big difference. If each household that is currently pledging increased its pledge by just $5 a week, our pledge base would grow by $27,560 or almost 11%!
The average pledge in 2013 was $2,467 per year. This is a generous amount, but still less than what Grace needs to cover its basic budgetary needs.
97 households pledged in 2013. This represents 54% of active Grace households. If non-pledging households were to pledge at the average pledge level, our pledge base would increase by almost $205,000. This would allow Grace to continue support of its existing ministries, but also to develop a more sustained commitment to adult formation, youth pilgrimages, our sister parish in Renk, and so much more.
2013 Pledge Levels:
15 households: $1 - $10 per week
21 households: $11 - $20 per week
17 households: $21 - $30 per week8 households: $31 - $40 per week 6 households: $41 - $50 per week
8 households: $51 - $60 per week
4 households: $61 - $70 per week
4 households: $71 - $80 per week
3 households: $81 - $100 per week
7 households: $101 - $200 per week
4 households: over $200 per week |
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How Do I Make a Pledge to Grace?
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Please prayerfully fill out the form and return it on Sunday, December 1, 2013.
Of course, we will warmly welcome pledge forms received before and after that date. If you will not be in church on that Sunday, you may mail the form to:
Grace Episcopal Church
ATTN: Douglas VanHouten 924 Lake Street
Oak Park, IL 60301
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On Sunday, December 1, 2013 we will bless all of the pledges. You will be invited to bring your pledge and regular offering forward and they will be blessed. We will have copies of all pledges that were submitted to us online. Thanks for your generosity.
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There are several options:
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- Do you bank online? Simply set up an automatic weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly check from your account.
- Write a check and place it in the offering plate or mail to Grace to the attention of Douglas VanHouten.
- Pay using our secure online payment service, PayPal. If you use your PayPal balance or bank account balance, Grace incurs no fees to accept the funds. If you use your credit card, Grace incurs a nominal fee of 2.2%.
Our Donation page is at this link.
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Our Mission:
Grace Church seeks to bring God's love and Christ's teaching to all people, to become a passionately involved, intentional Christian community, to support the spiritual journey of each person, and to work toward reconciliation, peace, and justice in our world.
Our Core Values:
-Reach out to support our neighbors locally and worldwide as we seek to obey God's command to love our neighbors as ourselves.
-Encourage and support spiritual growth in all people while respecting that each person is at a different point in his or her spiritual journey.
-Work to be ever more present to and caring for each member of the Grace community and to be fully welcoming to all who enter Grace's doors.
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Grace Episcopal Church
924 Lake Street
Oak Park, Illinois 60301
Copyright © 2013. All Rights Reserved.
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