Brothers and Sisters:

As we prepare to send the pledge totals to the Vestry for their final budget meeting in December, we want to bring you all up to date.

First, thank you to everyone who has submitted a pledge card.  Your gifts are all important and we appreciate your willingness to give.  Those of you who give electronically, and have not submitted a pledge card, please do so, as it gives the Vestry additional necessary information.  And, those of you who are still considering whether you will give, know it is never too late to submit a pledge. Our Annual Giving site provides info you may need.

At this point we have 75 pledges totaling about $238,000.  This is roughly 82% of our $290,000 pledge goal.  We are very pleased with this information, but as you can see there will be things that we will not be able to accomplish with this total. We pray that more of you will respond with pledge cards in the weeks ahead.  WE are the church. WE are created for good works and together we can accomplish more than we can individually.  As Father Howie said this morning, we must remember who we are – and WHOSE we are.

In God’s Love,

Your Annual Giving Ministry Ministry
Fr. Howie, Joy Lynam, Kristin Sausville, Helen Spence, Jinglan Redder

For those of you still considering your pledge, please know that it is not too late to send it in. Please know that your church appreciates all gifts to support us. The work we do is funded, largely, by all of us collectively and our contributions are more and more necessary – all of them.

Thank you very much to those who have provided their intentions for their gift. Remember, WE are the church – WE are created for Good Works – WE are how good works happen! Let your good works shine forth in all you do, all you give, all you are. Thank you for continuing support as we work to do all we can in the love of Christ.

A pledge card is attached and all materials are available at Annual Giving for 2024.

In Thanksgiving, Your Annual Giving Ministry

Gracious God, we thank you for creating and recreating us to do your good works in the world. Pour into our hearts the spirit of your abundance. Remind us that what we have is only and always for your glory, and that what we give for the work of your church is our testimony to the blessings we have already received. Guide us as we make the choices that will help build your kingdom now and in the future. And sustain us always with the promise of the gift beyond price, your presence among us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

You are invited to the Annual Giving Ingathering this Sunday, October 29, 2023. At Sunday’s worship services, we will present our pledge gifts in thanksgiving to be blessed. Many thanks to those of you who have provided your pledge cards. If you have not pledged, would you want to do so by Sunday? You may bring your pledge card to the service you attend, drop it in the pledge box in the lobby this week, or mail it in the self-addressed envelope provided with your Annual Giving materials.

Why do we pledge? Our parish budget is based on our gift giving. In December, the Vestry will approve our 2024 budget based on our giving. Annual Giving is about funding the work we are called to do.

As we approach the budget for 2024, our Annual Giving campaign is hoping you will truly consider ALL the ways you can help – including the monetary gift you are willing to give. This is the one time each year when we remind you that the work we do is funded, largely, by all of us collectively. As we move more and more into in-person gatherings and worship, our contributions are more and more necessary – all of them.

Remember, WE are the church – WE are created for Good Works – WE are how good works happen! Let your good works shine forth in all you do, all you give, all you are. Thank you for continuing support as we work to do all we can in the love of Christ.

Wish for more information? See all Annual Giving for 2024 updates.

In thanksgiving,
Annual Giving Ministry

Gracious God, we thank you for creating and recreating us to do your good works in the world. Pour into our hearts the spirit of your abundance. Remind us that what we have is only and always for your glory, and that what we give for the work of your church is our testimony to the blessings we have already received. Guide us as we make the choices that will help build your kingdom now and in the future. And sustain us always with the promise of the gift beyond price, your presence among us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Gracious God, we thank you for creating and recreating us to do your good works in the world. Pour into our hearts the spirit of your abundance. Remind us that what we have is only and always for your glory, and that what we give for the work of your church is our testimony to the blessings we have already received. Guide us as we make the choices that will help build your kingdom now and in the future. And sustain us always with the promise of the gift beyond price, your presence among us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

As part of our Annual Giving for 2024 campaign this year. Helen Spence shared the homily on October 15, 2023. See the homily via YouTube or read the entirety of the homily text. Excerpts follow …

The Isaiah reading this morning (Isaiah 25:1-9) reminds us that we who glorify God by our prayers and good works must be a strong and patient people, waiting for and rejoicing in the Lord’s abundant mercy. The 23^rd Psalm, which I am pretty sure most of us can recite from memory, is the comfort of God’s love in words – a big giant verbal hug – the knowledge that God is with us always and walks with us daily.  The Apostle Paul, whatever we else say about him, knows the value of community.  He constantly thanks people, sending messages to those who have been doing the work he started.  In today’s reading, written from prison, Paul urges the Phillipians – and us – to rejoice in the Lord, reminding us that the Lord is near to us in all we do and all we are.  All of these lessons, in this season of Annual Giving, remind us that we have been called to share the love of God with our community – the one here at St. Thomas’s and the one in which St. Thomas’s is located.  We have a job to do, one to which we are called over ages of ages, and, more importantly, we do not this work alone.

Community works differently in every place, with each group of people involved, because it is the people who create the community. People who pray together, work together, socialize together, live in the Love of the Lord together – this is the bond. And the good work of God in Christ, for which we were all created is done more effectively when the work is shared.  It is done yet more effectively when we reach beyond the doors of this building and seek to love our neighbors as we love ourselves – seek to work with our neighbors as well as we work together.

October 29, 2023 – two weeks from today – we will celebrate the ingathering of our pledges. If you cannot make a pledge by that date, know that it is never too late to do so. If your circumstances change, up or down, it is never too late to change your pledge.  But please, prayerfully consider how much your gift means to all of us as we move into our 2024 budget year.  As the opening prayer states, what we give for the work of God’s church is our testimony to the blessings we have already received.  Amen.

Helen Spence
Annual Giving Ministry

Annual Giving is when parishioners are asked to give thanksgiving and pledge their financial gifts for the coming year. Our parish budget is based on our gift giving. Our gift giving “keeps the lights” on and the “doors open.” Our gift giving also lets us give back to our community.

The Annual Giving ministry wishes to thank each of you for your thoughtful and generous pledge. Once a year parishioners are invited to pledge their financial gifts for the upcoming year. Our parish budget is based on our gift giving.

Our Annual Giving goal this year is $290,000 and we received gifts to date in the amount of $203,104. THANK you for these blessings! However, we are behind last year in pledges and we need a true number for the Vestry budget vote in December. After Thanksgiving, we will contact individuals who have not pledged to invite them to pledge.

It is not too late to pledge if you have not done so already. Please pledge your financial gifts on our pledge card and leave it in the box in the lobby or mail it to the Parish Office.

All Annual Giving information and presentations are available online.

Gracious and loving God, you have given us everything that we need.  Come now and do a new thing in us. Help us to live with open hearts and open hands.  Awaken in us the gift of gratitude, that all our works may praise you.  Deliver us from the fear that leads us to horde your blessings.  And teach us to hold what we have reverently, but lightly.  Be with us as we seek to do your will.  And give us your blessing always.  Amen.

In thanksgiving,
Annual Giving Ministry
Fr. Howie, Joy Lynam, Kristin Sausville, Helen Spence, Jinglan Redder

Hello, my name is Shonette Carew and my husband Terrance, and I are proud parents of two lively, ever-hungry, thoughtful, and God-fearing young men, Philip (9) and Cristian (5.) We have been members of St. Thomas’s for the last 6 years and truly value the continuity of the community and especially the Children’s Ministry and its impact on our family.

Also, see the YouTube version of this Annual Giving Ministry Moment.

We have always wanted to raise our children with an appreciation of God through study and understanding of His Word in a child-appropriate manner. We also wanted to raise our children to value fellowship with a community of believers. The past few years have been tough on many a family, ours included, with the lack of socialization and uncertainty introduced into daily life. Through it all, we were more than able to count on the certainty of the Children’s Ministry at St. Thomas’s. Whether by virtual Zoom learning, in a tent outside in the garden or back in the church building in the children’s rooms, we have maintained their learning and fellowship in this difficult time. The opportunities for fellowship also got creative with outdoor play events, movie nights in the grove and many a chance to trunk or treat and play in the parking lot. Memories I know our kids will cherish.

The competing priorities of a life with children amidst their own schedules (which are rather demanding for persons not yet able to drive or sign contracts) makes coming every week sometimes challenging with our own busy work schedules. We make being with the adults and their peers in the Sunday school program a family priority. Our boys really enjoy learning about God through playing, creating art and many experiential activities. They value the contribution and the attention of the adults who demonstrate love-in-action weekly as they pour into our children. From the care taken in the art projects about Bible stories with Ms. Belinda, or the narratives that Ms. Madeline gets them to recite and act out or the support provided by Ms. Brandy and many others who help, all of our children can see and feel the impact of Christ through these adult influences.

The way I know the learning through play sinks in is when out of the blue, one of them either quotes something they heard in Children’s Ministry, references something an adult said to them in church or simply correcting each other with a “God wouldn’t like that, would He.” It’s been said that children learn more informally through watching adults than we can ever teach them. I am grateful for the support of the parish and the church community of our Children’s Ministry program, for its leaders and most notably for its impact on our children. Thank you for your contribution to this ministry.

Shonette & Terrance Carew

It’s appropriate that yesterday’s Epistle lesson was thanking God for the growing faith and increasing love among the members of a church. I see and feel this here too. (See YouTube Version)

Thank you all for the gifts you’ve pledged throughout this Annual Giving season. Thank you for your love and thank you for your faith in how we can serve God here.

There is still so much we can do. We’ve seen over and over again, particularly when we thought the migrant refugees were being sent to Delaware, that people still look to Episcopal churches. They know that we walk and act in love.

This is a moment of such energy and possibilities. People here want to do new things as we emerge from the past two years, but need resources to do so — your time, your talent, your treasure.

For those of you who haven’t turned in pledges yet, think about what this church means to you. Reflect prayerfully on the work we’ve done and the work we have yet to do. Consider what you can return to God to see that we can continue doing His work here.

And thank you all for everything you’ve given.

During October, we are collecting our thoughts, thanksgivings, and prayers for Annual Giving for our reflection. Annual Giving will take financial commitments from each of us. An opportunity before us is examining how much we give and whether we can do more. Please prayerfully determine how to give back that which has been given to you. Won’t you please pledge your gifts using our pledge card and return it as soon as you can? Pledges may be left in the box in the church lobby or mailed using the self-addressed, stamped envelope included in the packet you received.

Thank you,
Kristin Sausville

PLEDGE CARD IN-GATHERING PRAYER

Gracious and loving God, giver of all that is good and true and beautiful and life-giving: These cards represent our labor, our lives, and our hopes and dreams. The pledges which we make on them are tokens of the awesome gifts that have been given to us and they are pledged in thanksgiving for all that we have received, for all we have been inspired to be, for all we are challenged to become, in this place. May they be the first fruits of all we have and not what we have left over.  May they be signs of your hand in our lives. May we see them as our offering to you, sacred and holy, and filled with possibilities. And may we hold this day and what we do here in our hearts and our minds so that week by week we may see our whole lives as an offering to you. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.