Vestry Stewardship Statement
October 2022
“Leap of Faith,” this year’s stewardship campaign theme, reflects our steadfast commitment to ongoing bold initiatives to realize our Strategic Plan and mission to Live God’s Love. During the past year, we’ve invested considerable financial and staff resources to support and expand our worship, learning, and service to others.
Today, St. Columba’s is a thriving community of faith. In addition to once again worshiping together in person in our refurbished Nave, we provide online streaming of our services, an outdoor growing Wee Worship for young families, and a newly installed front terrace and labyrinth for accessible worship, formation, and fellowship. With the generous support of parishioners’ time, talent, and treasure, we’ve expanded ministries and partnered with other community organizations to serve the most vulnerable in our community, especially those facing homelessness and refugees. And, together with the guidance of the Anti-Racism Task Force, we strive through learning, service, and advocacy to become an anti-racist church. Faith in our fellow parishioners to provide the needed financial support has made so much possible.
To build on this momentum, to continue being bold, and to take action in response to new opportunities and needs requires our increased support. As a community abundantly blessed with God’s love, we ask all to prayerfully consider their pledge and their personal capacity to increase their giving to St. Columba’s this year. As we take a “Leap of Faith”--many leaps of faith--to live God’s love, may we be inspired to give generously. The Vestry invites parishioners to join us in making the commitment described below.
We believe:
- That our lives, our blessings, and all that we have are gifts from God;
- That as good stewards of God’s creation, and out of gratitude for His abundance, we are invited to give a portion of our gifts – of time, talent, and treasure – for God’s work in the world;
- That being generous with what we have received acknowledges God’s generosity to us and is an integral part of our spiritual growth;
- That learning to be generous takes time and practice, and that we are helped by setting goals for ourselves;
- That what we give should be determined after prayerful consideration and reflection.
We commit ourselves:
- To establish personal goals for our own giving of time, talent and treasure;
- To make an annual pledge to St. Columba’s Episcopal Church;
- To determine our pledge as a percentage of our income, i.e. “proportional giving”;
- To strive to increase the percentage of our income that is given as a pledge toward the biblical standard of tithing 10% of our annual income, and
- To make our annual pledge to St. Columba’s Episcopal Church: (a) an increase in amount over our previous year’s percentage; (b) an increase in percentage over previous year’s percentage; or (c) our largest charitable contribution of the year
We invite:
- All parishioners to join us in our commitment as they prayerfully set their own stewardship goals as they are able;
- All parishioners to join us in our enthusiastic support of the ministry of God in making their pledge to St. Columba’s Episcopal Church.
