Stewardship 2025

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself

up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Ephesians 5:1-2 (NRSV)

Dear Friends in Christ,

We are pleased to head up this year’s Stewardship Campaign: Walk in Love. We hope this will be a season for you to reflect on all the ways our St. Paul’s family has walked in love. And we hope you will find quiet times to discern how God is calling you to walk in love.

The words “Walk in Love” come from our patron St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. You may know them best as the invitation to Eucharist—the Great Thanksgiving. These words remind us that Jesus calls us into gratitude and thanksgiving. We hope you will feel called to contribute generously to funding our future—one in which we anticipate welcoming a new rector with love.

The cost of carrying out our mission goes up every year, and, as a parish, we face real financial challenges. Our costs rose significantly this year across the board, and we expect they will continue to do so, despite all our efforts at efficiency. Next year, for example, we project our diocesan assessment to rise by nearly 20%.

Our revenues have not kept pace. We aim to cover about three-quarters of our expenses from your pledged gifts. With sharply rising costs and only modest increases in pledges last year, we fell short of that mark. The other significant source of funding comes from returns on our invested endowment funds. When pledges fall short, we must dip further into our investments. Our ability to do so, however, has limits.

To meet our needs, the Stewardship Committee has set a Campaign goal of $462,000—roughly, a 12.6 increase over last year’s pledges. It is an ambitious goal and one we believe we can meet. As a parish, we have answered similar challenges before. On the back of the pledge card you will see illustrations of what this type of increase might mean at various levels of giving to help you get an idea what our requested increase might mean for you.

On October 6, after the 10:30 service, we will hold a town hall where our Treasurer, Dana Baer, our Stewardship Chair and the Wardens will be on hand to present financial information and answer questions you might have as you discern your gift to St. Paul’s. We hope you will attend.

We know not all parishioners will have the capacity to increase their giving by 12.6 percent. We hope some will be fortunate enough to do more and that we will reach our overall goal, together. Further, when we walk in love together, all of our gifts—be they financial, spiritual, time, or talent—help us strengthen our Church and each other; in all you do, and in whatever you give, you are an irreplaceable member of Christ’s precious body. Never forget that.

So, to paraphrase the Venite, let us come before God with thanksgiving, offering ourselves to God and one

another in love.

Yours in Christ,

Cliff Ruprecht Ellen Ranen Greg Millert Terry Howell

Download the 2025 Pledge Form Here.