This worksheet is designed to help you reflect on what St. Simon’s means to you and explore how you
come to make your giving decisions. It is offered in love as a tool for your use and your eyes only.
How often do you find yourself saying “I don’t have enough time/energy/money…”? For most of us, it happens
more often than we even realize.
As Christians, we are called to live in faith, trusting the present and future to God who loves us more than we love
ourselves. The invitation to give includes supporting the church’s mission and ministry as it is also a tangible way
we exercise trust in God, even when—or especially when—we aren’t sure there is enough. When we offer what
we have, God provides more than enough—“twelve baskets full.”
The scriptural understanding of a tithe, giving 10% of our income to God—giving the “first fruits” rather than
what is left over—is embraced by the Episcopal Church, although few are brave enough to try it! The average
percentage of income in the larger Episcopal Church is 2.41% ($3,000) and here in our parish, gleaned from the
recent church assessment survey (the CAT), the percentage is 1.99%. Remembering why I give to the church and
what this community means to me:
•What I gave to the church five years ago: $_____________ was _____% of my income
• What I gave to the church two years ago: $_____________ was _____% of my income
• What I gave to the church last year: $_____________ was _____% of my income
• What might be gained by stretching my giving beyond what I think I can do?
We each receive blessings from God. Some of those blessings occur through the church, through friendships and
relationships, through worship and prayer, and through participation in acting out the Gospel. Part of our personal
spirituality is in giving of our resources for the mission of God here.
My commitment for 2018: please transfer these to your Pledge Card
The trust-filled gift I commit is: $__________ Time/talents I am inspired to offer: __________________
Thank you for your faithfulness and generosity, for your presence and your witness.
An Invitation to Reflect Jesus took the bread in his hands and gave thanks to God. Then he passed the bread to the people,
and he did the same with the fish, until everyone had plenty to eat.—John 6:11
• Why is St. Simon’s important to me and my family?
• What gifts/blessings do I/we receive by being here?
• What would happen if St. Simon’s wasn’t here, not only in terms of my experience but also the
impact on others both in and beyond the community?
• What do I invest in our community of faith—in time, talent and treasure?
• How do I determine how much of my resources—time, talent and treasure—to give?
• How did it feel when I gave to the church last year? What was it like to contribute financially and
see the ministries grow? Where else does our treasure go?
Dear Parish Family,
Last spring the Vestry unveiled a new mission statement for St. Simon’s:
Celebrating God’s Love for All
Seeking to Embody Christ in the World
We live into this mission every day at St. Simon’s. Just a glance at the parish calendar shows how we embody
Christ in the World: Christmas Baskets, Youth Mission Trip, Book Clubs, Walk in Wednesdays, Pet Blessing, and
education for all ages. We are blessed to celebrate God’s love through these ministries.
God designed us to lead confident, faithful lives and has clearly blessed our lives over and over again. Our partici-
pation through St. Simon’s helps us to recognize and appreciate these blessings. We have responded to our bless-
ings with love and care and service to others and by giving of our talents and ourselves.
Last year, we increased our pledges to hire a full-time associate priest and to
grow our missions and ministries. And that leap of faith has been rewarded:
more than 30 new people joined the congregation this past year and are partici-
pating in our parish community! We continue to strengthen our work together
and that growth depends on your continued support.
Inspired by the accomplishments of the past year and the possibilities for our
future together, we are increasing our pledges for 2018 by an average of 12%.
Read on for more details about the exciting ways we are growing and why this
increase makes possible new and important ministries. We invite you join us.
Included with this letter is a suggestion as to what this increase could be for
you. Please consider how God has blessed you this year while thinking about
how much you can pass on those blessings. We encourage you to bring your
pledge card to church on January 28, and offer it on the altar as your gift of love
back to God. If you cannot join us here on the 28th, please mail or email your
pledge to the church by then.
Thank you for all you contribute to our St. Simons community of faith,
The Giving Team—John Stomper, Dave Ungurean, Becky Hume
St. Simon’s Episcopal Church 2018 Giving Season
Celebrating Christ’s Love
for All
Our Growth Over the past three years, St.
Simon’s has grown by more than
40 new households. Not only
have we grown in all age
demographics, we have also
embraced connecting with
organizations like the Children of
Abraham and the Viator House.
The blessing of our
demographics is that there are
connections between all ages.
This cross-generational
participation and spiritual
development has been exciting to
witness. We’ve grown in a differ-
ent way too, as over a one quar-
ter of our congregation attends
church more than they did three
years ago.
Our Formation Participation in the educational
offerings has increased and pro-
grams have been added because
of our thirst for spiritual growth.
The most recent subjects have
been: Difficult Bible Passages,
What’s God Got To Do With
It?, What’s Your Spiritual Gift?
and Who knows the Saints?
The Church School is amazingly
popular and currently educates
88 children. The Youth Group
meets weekly to deepen their
faith—with fifteen to twenty in-
volved each week, it is hard to
believe that just a few years ago
we didn’t have a youth ministry!
They embarked upon a mission
trip to Kentucky in 2017 with
plans to return in 2018.
Seeking To Embody Christ
in the World
Sufficient Staffing for Our
Growing Ministries
Pastoral—Administrative—
Musical—Youth—Education
Building on our success, we seek to
sustain and strengthen the spiritual
community we have developed. We
are looking for what the Holy Spirit
can do with our participation. Two
years ago, we as a parish embarked
on a journey to invest in personnel
to strengthen our ministry. In 2016,
we added an associate rector, using
the resources of the Missions and Ministries (M & M) Fund to make this possible. In 2017, we had an unexpected
opportunity to strengthen our administrative function while expanding our support for family ministries. After
prayerful discernment, we stepped out in faith. The graph above shows we can fully fund these additional
resources by 2021. Already we see the fruits of our investments in the vibrant CAT results and in the spiritual
renewal many are experiencing and which newcomers are drawn toward. We know it is a stretch, but we believe
God is present and faithful when we offer what we can.
The Mission and Ministry Fund is fed by income the church receives by leasing parking and office space to Northwest Community
Hospital. However, these funds cannot be relied upon so cannot be part of our long term planning.
What the CAT Revealed Based on the recent CAT survey,
St. Simon’s future options will
include expanding outreach min-
istries, implementing strategies to
reach and include new people in
the church, strengthening the
process which develops people
for ministry and leadership and
enhancing our musical offerings
to deepen our worship experi-
ence. The survey also indicated
that overall, our parishioners are
highly satisfied with how things
stand today as well as poised and
energized for our next steps.
Thank you to all who participat-
ed in the survey and for your
candid responds. They demon-
strate our ability to do great
things together!
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