“Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. As it is written, ‘He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures for ever.’”

 (2 Corinthians 9:7-9)

Beloved Community,

As I sat down at my computer to compose this message, something I do every two weeks like clockwork, I found myself surprisingly conflicted about what I wanted to say because two seemingly different ideas were going around in my head.

One was the joy I have felt and know that I share with so many of you that one of the most fervent hopes we had when we began our life together in November of 2018 is no longer aspirational, but real. After the year of getting to know each other, the two years of Covid, the months and months of recovery from the flood, and the choices we made to hire Grace as Children & Youth Minister, subscribe to a really solid curriculum, renovate what is now the Children's Chapel (and create a brand-new Youth Group space), and designate one Sunday as the Intergenerational Service, all of the pieces are coming together! We've had six or seven children in Children's Chapel for almost a couple of months now - and I mean all at the same time, so that these beloved children of God and their adults have a sense of what it means to be in this community together. Your patience and your prayers and your ongoing commitment to Children & Youth Ministry - especially when it seemed like every step forward was met with an obstacle - have borne fruit. As your priest and pastor, I cannot tell you how my heart sings, not just because the children are here and I adore this ministry, but because I see the joy that you are experiencing because you, like me, know the Church is at its best when we are a place and a people that welcome children and young people to come and be themselves, sharing their energy, curiosity, and gifts with the rest of us.

So, I'm assuming it's obvious that talking about the kids in church was not the source of my conflict. I could talk and write and talk some more about kids and young people. The conflict is because of something I need to talk about that is not as comfortable for some to hear, especially from their priest - money. Although I am comfortable talking about it, it absolutely is not in the top 10 reasons I answered the call to ordained ministry. And yet is something that clergy are "directed" to do in the Canons and the Book of Common Prayer. Without solid financial stewardship, we cannot be the place that fosters the kind of joy that I just talked about. The cheerful giving mentioned in the passage from 2 Corinthians is the embodied generosity that comes from knowing you are blessed in abundance - abundance of all kinds - and that motivates.

Our annual giving this year is lagging behind what it has been since before I arrived. I've not given up hope of reaching our goal because, as some of you occasionally say, we are "the Church of the Last Minute/Our Lady of the Tardy." Yet because we are in January and the Finance Committee needs to know what to plan for, we need you to make a pledge if you haven't done so already. I know that many of you are probably planning to keep on giving as you always do and just haven't let us know that. The reality is that we can't build the budget on what we think you will give, but need to know what you plan to give. There are a few ways you can do that:

• Use the pledge online option on our website: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeGR-3UH1Trg4GKyUSRsjvd_c51XYENajN3axLX9bHp2V0uJQ/viewform
• Use the pledge form that was included the pledge request letter you received in the mail or picked up on the table in the nave. If you didn't receive a letter, please call or email us and we'll get one to you.
• Email us with the amount you wish to pledge, being sure to tell us if the amount is weekly, monthly, or annually.

St. Stephen's truly is a special place with gifts of radical love and welcome, dazzling generosity, and a willingness to be bold and courageous in how we live our faith. Today I ask you to let us know that we can plan for the upcoming year and beyond because it is you intention to give in faith the way you have in years past.

Peace & Blessings,

Paula+