And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.  And all ate and were filled. What was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces. Luke 9:16-17, NRSV

 November 1, 2022

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

 I am grateful to you, and to all the members of our congregation. Throughout the year I have witnessed such generosity as you contribute your ideas, your funds, and your time to our community. Every dollar that we raise, every minute of volunteerism, every good plan comes from the heart and goes toward our mission.

This year we have witnessed a significant change in our Church Campus.  Our church was painted both inside and out.  New lighting has enhanced our space and our ability to read materials in church.  A new carpet replaced the worn carpets installed in the 1980’s.  From the devastating floods which destroyed our basement, a new space with a new ministry of the Gift & Thrift Boutique brought new life to our church.  Perhaps our Parish Hall shows the greatest change in our space. 

Three years ago, we planned for a new Parish Hall to replace our present building.  When Covid closed down our church, our plans were shelved.  When we began to emerge from the lockdowns of Covid, I wondered how we could reimagine a Parish Hall which would accommodate more than 25 people and began to wonder about using the space we already have in new ways.  We moved the office to the Vesting Room, removed old walls and discovered a new space for our gatherings.  We have yet to discover how this space can enhance our fellowship and offer us new possibilities for outreach.  We discovered that while we hoped for something more for a parish hall, that we had more than enough.  We discovered that with the gifts we already had we could create something new for ourselves. 

We continue to face significant financial challenges.  We cannot support all our expenses with the money we bring into the church from our pledges and fundraising.  During this year, our finance committee will have to examine ways for us to cut our expenses and increase our income.  You have a part to play in that plan. 

I am asking all the members of the church to examine the ways you financially support the church and ask if you can do more.  The Episcopal Church has asked our members to contribute 10% of your income, a tithe, to support the church.  In past years, I invited  you to set the tithe as your goal.  Perhaps you are giving less than 10%.  I invite you to set a percent of your income for the support of the church and every year to increase your gift by 1%.  On the back of your pledge card, you will find a chart with annual and weekly income amounts and your weekly gift to the church.  I encourage you to consider how generous you can be with your gift. 

We are all experiencing the challenges of our economy with inflation increasing the prices of everything we purchase.  Within our budgets, we can discover that we do have room to scale back on some items to increase in other areas. As Christians we are invited to some level of sacrificial giving, to give up something to provide somewhere else.  We sacrifice for those things which are valuable to us.  I ask you to consider the value of church for you and ask that you examine how to increase your giving.  We shall collect pledges on December 11, 2022. 

In addition to your financial gift, I ask that you also give your time to support our church’s ministries.  We need people to assist at worship, with outreach, with our Thrift Store.  All these opportunities give you the opportunity to share your gifts with others and build up our church. 

We all know that all which we have comes as a gift to us from God.  We return to God what God has already given to us.  I ask that you reflect on the gifts God has given you and return thanks to God with you generous gift to God. 

May God continue to bless you and your loved ones. 

 In Abundant Gratitude,

Fr. Peter De Franco