October 15, 2025
Dear Ones,
At the heart of the Gospel, the heart of God’s mission in the world, at the heart of the mission of St. Barnabas, is Christ’s call to love, service, growth and transformation. How will we answer this call? That question, and our collective answer, is truly at the heart of stewardship, which is the recognition that everything is a gift from God, given into our care to be used to glorify God and to care for God’s people, creatures and creation. Stewardship, in its richest sense, is at the heart of our Annual Giving Campaign. How will we live out God’s mission as the community that is St Barnabas? Why is that important? What is my part?
Once again this year, we are inviting the entire parish into deep and prayerful discernment about what the St. Barnabas community means to us, what the church means to us and what God is calling us into as individuals and as the Body of Christ that is St. Barnabas. So this is not a letter asking you for money. Instead it is a letter asking for your prayerful discernment of your participation in God’s work in the world as lived out in the St. Barnabas community.
The Annual Giving Campaign offers an invaluable opportunity to reflect on the importance of St. Barnabas for you, and to reflect on the importance of being the church in our profoundly secular world. Taking time to reflect and to pray helps us to focus on God’s mission rather than “our money,” and moves us away from the myriad money issues so many of us have! Fear, scarcity, shame (I have too much! I don’t have enough!), privacy, the simple unwillingness to talk about, pray about, ask the Holy Spirit’s guidance about how much money we will give to support the mission and ministry of St Barnabas are all things that can disappear when prayer and reflection inform your discerning. There is a distinct difference between discernment and deciding. “Deciding” without honest, prayerful discernment leaves God out. Leaving God out of any part of our lives is a poverty but leaving God out of our thoughtful consideration of what we will give to support God’s mission in the world doesn’t make any sense at all!
As you pray and reflect, consider the blessings of your life, as you gratefully acknowledge God as the source of those blessings. You might consider the challenges you have encountered, and the role of your faith and your faith community in moving through those challenges. Your prayerful consideration might include poignant reflections on the brokenness of the world, as well as the role of love and Christian community in healing that brokenness. Or perhaps you’ll consider what it means to take your place and do your unique part as co-creators with God in transforming the world by sharing God’s love. Bring all these, and any other considerations that might inform your discernment to God, and then listen. Listen for what God’s Holy Spirit is saying to you as you consider your pledge for the coming year.
Every single person in our parish has the capacity to make a thoughtfully discerned pledge to the mission and ministry of St. Barnabas. You’ve heard me say that it doesn’t matter to me, and I don’t believe it matters to God, if we give one dollar or fifty thousand dollars. What does matter, is that we listen and respond to God’s Holy Spirit, starting with a blank slate and an open mind and heart. I’ve known people not to make pledges because they feel they cannot give enough. That breaks my heart, because everyone deserves the opportunity to participate, to know the joy of giving to St Barnabas and the joy of belonging that comes from sharing the gifts God has given us in this very special way. When we truly listen, when we invite God into our conversations about how we use our money, we will know what to do. And it will be right because when we invite God into the conversation, we will find ourselves aligning the way we use all our gifts (including our money), with our most deeply held values. This isn’t something to fuss or worry about. Rather, it is something to wonder and be curious about, something to delight in! Consider your gift not just as pledging money to this place that means so much to you, but to what God is doing in your life and how God is calling you to deepen your commitment to Be God’s Mission in the world.
While we will surely keep you informed of “the numbers,” what we’re really focused on is 100% participation. We’re focused on participation because we know that when we participate, we feel a sense of belonging that simply does not happen when we stand back and set ourselves apart. Every one of us deserves to feel a part of the mission and ministry of St. Barnabas, and absolutely everyone can participate in this annual campaign. St. Barnabas is a wonderfully welcoming and inclusive community, a community where everyone belongs. Participating in the life of this community by making a financial commitment brings us deeper into communion with God and the life of this community.
Thank you for your prayerful discernment. Thank you for your involvement and support of God’s mission in the world through the mission and ministries of St. Barnabas. We give thanks for your many contributions to this community of faith, and for the blessing of having you as part of the St. Barnabas community. Please know that your prayerful consideration and participation are truly what this letter invites you into. Also know too, that I welcome your questions and conversations, as do the members of the Annual Campaign Committee.
We look forward to talking with you, to praying with you, and to celebrating together with you and the whole congregation on Sunday, November 24 when we will gather up all our pledges and consecrate them for God’s good work in the world. Thank you and may God richly bless you as you have blessed us.
Faithfully,
Rev. Karen Haig
