Preparing for the Future

Dear Friends,

The Vestry and staff met with Leslie Manning, a consultant based in Highlands, North Carolina, a few weeks ago. It was an exciting time that reminded me of something important—the reality of the pandemic is not a permanent one. God is calling us to bigger and better things in the year to come, and they will require so much—our energy, our faithfulness, our spiritual gifts, and our financial resources.

To that end, I wanted to give you a bit of a bigger stewardship update than we usually give in the Friday announcements. First, the encouraging news—our pledge campaign is faring better than I would have anticipated given the economic uncertainties of this time. Our Vestry set a goal to reach $450,000 in pledges for 2021, and we are currently getting close to that total. As of this writing, our total pledges for next year stand at $427,080. We are within striking distance of our goal!

That said, we are seeing a difference from the last few years. We typically average around 80 pledges. This year, we only have 65 so far, and 20 folks who pledged last year have not yet done so for 2021. I know that for some, this is just the economic reality of 2020. If that is you—please know that St. Peter's is here for you if you need care in the midst of this struggle.

However, it might be that in the hustle and bustle of the past few months, you've just forgotten to pledge! Please know that your pledge helps us to plan for next year—and we know that next year is going to demand a lot of innovative work as we recover from the pandemic and get back to normal life. If you are able, please pledge today and help us plan for that exciting future.

Perhaps you've never pledged, and you wonder why you should. It's a reasonable question. I'd invite you to take a look at the video below, where a few of your fellow parishioners describe why they pledge to St. Peter's.

God bless,
Fr. Quinn+