Giving with Gratitude
ABOUT GIVING WITH GRATITUDE
Of course, grapevines don’t grow in wine. But spiritually, the grace of Jesus Christ, symbolized in the image by the chalice of his sacramental blood, is source of all God’s good gifts in our lives. God’s grace bears fruit — “thirty, fifty, and hundredfold,” as Jesus put it. Through his grace we are all blessed to do more than we could alone. Thanks be to God!
Like any stewardship campaign, “Giving with Gratitude” invites us to prayerfully examine our giving. But this year our special focus is on the gratitude for Christ’s grace, the abundant and never ending source of God’s good fruit in our lives.
God’s grace isn’t simply sufficient, is it abundant and never ending. To give with gratitude is to remember all that God has provided to us and to our church and to give back from the abundance we have.
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?
We encourage everyone to pray prayers of thanksgiving each day of the campaign (our gratitude calendar can help here!). Pray too for God’s guidance in estimating your giving for the next year, being thankful for all that he has provided us.
Then complete the attached card with an estimate of your 2025 giving. We know that this is an estimate and could change, but your prayerful commitment on your intention of giving card will allow us as a parish to create a budget where we all continue to receive God's abundant grace. Thank you.
BREAKDOWN BY MINISTRY AREA
21% Worship, Music, Hidden Springs $232,000 (2024: $176,500)
With preaching, music, and sacrament, our Spirit-filled worship nourishes our lives at church, at home, at work, and in our community.
12% Children, Youth & Family $132,000 (2024: $131,000)
With a new name, KASA, a new Children’s and Family Minister, a new curriculum, and new programming this fall, our family ministries are entering an exciting time of growth and development.
11% Formation, Fellowship & Pastoral Care $125,000 (2024: $63,000)
The small groups and big events that bind us together as the body of Christ. We build relationship that lead to Christ. Erica, our new Curate, will play a big role here in 2025.
7% Outreach $79,000 (2024: $75,300)
Doing the work of God is like the wind that powers our life of faith. We call it being the Hands&Feet of Christ. Our actual outreach spending is significantly higher but not a part of our annual budget.
4% Leadership & Evangelism $46,000 (2024: $75,200)
Growing in grace requires reaching out to our community. Our proposed budget includes money to advertise, our website and software budget, as well as the staff resources to do so.
20% Facility & Grounds $222,000 (2024: $183,200)
Our facilities and grounds are no longer as new as they once were, and our loan payments are likely to increase next year.
19% Administration, Bookkeeping, Technology $206,000 (2024: $148,100)
We are blessed to have faithful, careful, and caring stewards who run the office, care for our finances, and make sure we have the supplies and technology to communicate the gospel in this age.
6% Diocesan Assessment $69,334 (2024: $80,000)
This is the financial side of our faith commitment. St. Andrew’s is a part of Christ’s Church. These funds support the ministries of the diocese and the wider Episcopal Church.
INTENTION OF SPENDING 2024
Total: $1,113,541
PERSONNEL
Our personnel budget is $720,000, or 65% of the total. This is not irregular for nonprofits or churches. The Church, after all, is people. We have made a best effort to divide up the personnel costs among our ministry areas in order to help show how our staff costs are shared among our ministries. The substantial increases to some ministry areas are due to staff changes, particularly our new Curate. These increases are largely, though not entirely, offset by the diocesan curacy grant.
Watch: Sermons from Giving with Gratitude
This sermon will be available after Sunday, October 13, 2024
This sermon will be available after Sunday, October 20, 2024
This sermon will be available after Sunday, October 27, 2024