Final St. John’s Stewardship & Budget Status Update

Good Morning, St. John’s.

Thank you to everyone who has responded to the call to submit your 2025 pledge of support to St. John’s. We are very pleased with the progress we have made during this Stewardship Season.

We are reaching out today to update the Parish on Stewardship efforts.

Our Annual Meeting is scheduled for 11 a.m. on January 26, 2025, in Upper Weld Hall, at which time we’ll vote on the 2025 budget.

Ahead of the Annual Meeting, we are hosting an open budget discussion for parishioners to meet with leaders from our Finance Committee and Vestry, to address questions and hear input from parishioners: Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, at 9 a.m. in Upper Weld Hall (and online). Please attend!

Our Stewardship Season began in October, and during the last ten weeks, we have sought to provide available information to the parish, through three pairs of Stewardship Sermons, four announcements (every three weeks) from our Stewardship Chairs, and weekly email updates. 

We’ve seen such generosity these last few months. It also brings into focus limitations on financial resources.

We want to address a question that many have asked: Will we have enough to fund a second priest in 2025?

Together, we have a chance to answer that question. Throughout the Stewardship Season, we have mentioned that:

• A budget encompassing our current activity level (with a single full-time Priest) is expected to require pledges of approximately $625,000—compared to last year’s total pledges of $540,000.

• A full-year of more “programmatic” activities (with two full-time Priests) is expected to require pledges in the range of $750,000.

We believe we will meet or somewhat exceed the initial $625,000 goal. New pledging families or additional increases from existing pledging families are needed to achieve our Program Level goal of $750,000, and fund a second priest in 2025.

We are so pleased that have received 38 pledges from new families this year, and over 95% of last year’s pledgers have pledged again.

• In total, about 60% of this year’s pledges are from either new pledgers or families who have increased their pledges from last year.

• As we know, life doesn’t always allow us to increase our pledge each year—about 30% of this year’s pledges remained the same as last year and about 12% declined. Our stewardship campaign reflects what is happening in the broader community and in our own financial lives, and we are grateful to have this continued support.

• The important work of Stewardship is supported this year by a corps of three dozen “Ambassadors” who have helped us reach out to families for the last 3 months. And so we do expect some additional pledges in the coming days.

We have reviewed these figures, discussed with many of you, and considered our opportunities. We are energized—as you can see—by Father Ed’s arrival, and there is indeed widespread support for being in a position to have two full-time priests.

But, again absent a substantial additional increase from pledges, we do not see an opportunity to fully fund a second priest in 2025.

• To get to the $750,000 figure (for 1-year of an additional full-time priest), we would need an additional $700 on average from every family that has already pledged, or new pledges.

• Hiring a junior position (a curate) would be a savings of only $20,000 per year.

• If we were to bring on a second priest, even if only later in the year, we would also want to be sure that we can sustain giving at the higher level to support the full-year position, without facing the painful choices that come with over-shooting our financial resources.

Whether we pursue an associate rector (a senior position) or a curate (a junior position), there is a long lead time associated with that. Based on the strength of your support so far, and with expectations for strong financial support into 2026 and beyond, we plan to begin the process now of preparing a search process that would conclude with hiring a second priest in the beginning or middle of 2026.

Thank you to each of you who have made our Stewardship Season a success; we look forward to this opportunity in 2026 that your support makes possible.

Every pledge matters, in any amount. All of our pledgers have helped our Vestry and Finance Committee develop a budget that will support our parish next year—and every single pledge contributes to this process.

Our Parish has done what we set out to do at the beginning of the season: to prayerfully consider what we can share together for a vibrant and active parish in 2025.

It is very important to us that you have access to this information, so that you can consider for yourselves what comes next, and discuss that with members of the Vestry if you would like to explore other opportunities.

There is indeed support for a second priest, in time, and all that we have heard is a commitment to continue to grow and be a part of our Church community in the coming year.

We are grateful for your generosity and participation in this process. Thank you!

Thank you.

Faithfully,

Andy Strehle, Stewardship Chair

Jody Jones Turner, Senior Warden

Perrie O’Tierney-Ginn, Junior Warden

Stewardship: Make Your 2025 Pledge Today

Behold, all things have become new! 

Thank you to all who have answered the call and submitted your 2025 Pledge!

Everything we do at St John’s—every service, every program, every church school class, and every bit of outreach—can happen only with financial contributions from our parishioners. We are the ones who are responsible for funding our parish. Our pledges made during the stewardship season will be the most important factor in determining our budget for next year. With broad increases in year-over-year pledged amounts, we can develop a plan that will sustain and grow our activities together.

From the Rector: The calling of St. Francis

Dear friends,

This Sunday, we will be celebrating The Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Francis is one of the most well-known and beloved saints in the Church. Living in the twelfth century, he is venerated for his compassion and service to the poor and the natural world, as well as his rich prayer life. His example and teaching formed the basis of a Rule of Life which continues in communities across the world to this day. When churches celebrate Francis, congregations often bring animals to be prayed over in honor of Francis’ love for all of God’s creation. On Sunday, there will be two opportunities to celebrate: at the 10 a.m. Eucharist, where Sunday School children may bring stuffed animals for a blessing during the service; and at 5 p.m., where there will be a special service outside in the Memorial Garden, for you to bring your living animal friends for a blessing.

Indeed, it is appropriate that on the day we celebrate St. Francis we also begin our Stewardship season. On this Stewardship Sunday, I and Chris Accettella, who serves on our finance committee, will be preaching together on the importance of stewardship from our respective points of view. Aside from the obvious connections between love, service, care for creation, and building community, St. Francis and stewardship go well together also because Francis’ own calling centered around a particular church building. Legend has it that his calling from God came while sitting in a derelict church, and hearing the voice of another saint, St. Damian, saying “Go and repair my church, which you see is falling down.” At this point, Francis devoted his life to God’s service.

Now, while St. John’s is not exactly sinking into the earth right now, it is certainly true that our church, like all churches, face their own challenges. As we will learn together over the coming months, while St. John’s is a parish which has made tremendous strides, and always has in its life and ministry, we know the pitfalls. We all know how the financial situation of this parish, like many, in a both post-covid and rector transition period has played out. We’ve all seen the parts of the building that need work. We all know that our current budget cannot sustain the ministries and programs that have been the hallmark of St. John’s for decades. It’s hard. But, as we learn from all the saints of the Church, it is often when we perceive the need to address something which initially seems insurmountable that the calling becomes real. And what begins with uncertainty soon becomes compelling, a duty becomes a joy, and a desire becomes an act of generosity.

There will be more about this on Sunday and in the weeks to come. But for the time being, I give thanks for the gifts that all of you already share with this community, and I will look forward to worshipping you this Sunday!

With every blessing,

Ed.