Feasting on Gratitude

2011 Stewardship Letter from Patrick and Sunni Bannon

Dear St. Thomas family:
Hanging on our refrigerator, tucked between John’s tee-ball photo and Clara’s preschool calendar is a bright green index card with the hand-written reminder, “Everything we have is a gift.”

Three years ago our financial lives changed dramatically when Sunni resigned from her paid full-time work to be a full-time at-home parent. Living on a tight budget with two young children we felt exhausted and overwhelmed. We supported St. Thomas with a modest annual pledge, but we fulfilled our commitment with no more thought than we gave to paying our utility bill. At the end of each month, we were relieved to find a few dollars left in the checking account. Or more often, we dipped into our savings account to make ends meet.

Last fall, we were thrilled to hear the plans for the new Life Center at St. Thomas – what a wonderful facility for our children, their friends and the generations to follow! At the campaign banquet we stared at the pledge card and listened as Lex asked us to move beyond what we could give with comfort to a level of sacrifice. We realized we didn’t know what the figure would be at either of those levels. With our faith as the lens, we re-focused and looked closely at our lives, our blessings and our money. It was obvious we had enough. Not enough for a new car with a third row seat or for a golf round every month. But enough to pay our bills, cover basic needs and provide for a small indulgence now and then. We found room in the budget to increase our annual St. Thomas pledge plus make an equal pledge for the Life Center.

“Everything we have is a gift.” The words blend into the kitchen scenery surrounded by magnets, photos and crayon art. They gently nudge us to slow down and practice gratitude. God is good. God will provide. It was only last year that we recognized and responded with faith to the intrinsic question – a query found in Psalm 116, “What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me?” Making and keeping our pledge to St. Thomas has not made our lives stress free. Parenting is a rollercoaster, and we worry about many of the same things that concerned us before. But giving to St. Thomas no longer feels obligatory or optional. We are glad to return to the Lord from the richness we receive.

Just like all of you, our stewardship is a journey. This fall we’ll increase our annual pledge percentage as we move toward the goal of tithing. We’re inspired by the work, love and abundant hospitality at St. Thomas. We’re amazed and humbled by the examples of stewardship surrounding us. Please join us on November 20th for Ingathering Sunday. We, along with John and Clara and each of you, will bring our pledge cards to the altar as we come together to share the Eucharist and to celebrate the bounty and blessings of our church family. What a wonderful feast!
Joyfully yours,
Patrick & Sunni Bannon

Isabel's Stewardship Talk

Isabel shared this talk with the St. Thomas congregation
on November 6, 2011.

My name is Isabel Williams. I’ve been coming to St. Thomas with my parents and brother Connor since I was in the second grade. Now I’m in the sixth grade.

A few weeks ago I found a joke that I think is pretty relevant to what I’m here to talk about: A family goes to church one Sunday morning. When they come out, the father complains, “The sermon was horrible!” The mother cries, “The choir was terrible!” And the little girl says, “But you have to admit—it was a pretty good show for just a dollar.”

But seriously… When Father Lex asked me if I would talk about how our family practices stewardship at St. Thomas, my first thoughts were something along the lines of, “Um… what does ‘stewardship’ mean?” According to Dictionary.com, stewardship is “the responsible overseeing and protection of something considered worth caring for and preserving.”  As soon as I heard that, I knew it was the perfect definition. Our family definitely thinks that St. Thomas – and all the gifts God gives us in this world – is something worth caring for and preserving.

After all this you must be wondering: How does my family practice stewardship at St. Thomas? What do we do? For starters, we put a check in the offering plate each week. Mom and Dad have been putting money in the offering plate for years, and Connor and I give a third of our allowance each week as well. There are other things you can do for stewardship besides just giving money – you can also give time to church. I help with church services as an acolyte, lector, and Chorister. Mom and Dad are active Sunday School teachers, and Mom is also a Eucharistic Minister and is on the Vestry. And there’s another way you can give time – you can give it to outreach.  Connor is in Kids Club and I am in Youth Group, and we participate in service projects with those groups. Our family as a whole also helps with Thanksgiving meals, the Giving Tree, and Congregations for the Homeless.

Now that you know what we do, it’s probably best if you know why we do it, so you might like to do it, too. First, it’s a way we “care for and preserve” the St. Thomas community that means so much to us. After we left our old church, for weeks we searched for a new one that would be special to us and would keep us coming back each Sunday. As soon as we came here, we knew that St. Thomas was the church we were looking for. St. Thomas is what we make it – so we all need to do our part to support it. Second, stewardship is a way to show our thanks and give back for all the wonderful gifts God gives to us. I don’t like to hear sad stories about all of the horrible things that happen in our world, but I’ve heard enough to know that we are so, so lucky. Mom and Dad both have jobs; our family is healthy; we have a nice house, warm clothes, and plenty of food; and we haven’t suffered any major natural disasters.  We want to show our thanks for that by giving back. And finally, it’s a way to follow the lessons that Jesus teaches about caring for our neighbors. What’s the point of coming to church every week and listening to the lessons from the Bible if we’re not going to learn something and follow those lessons? 

That’s just a little bit about what St. Thomas and stewardship means to our family. I hope you will think about what it means to you and your family and make a pledge on the ingathering Sunday in a few weeks.