Dear Friends in Christ,

Last week, the three clergy at Grace spent a day together in one of my favorite annual traditions: membership review. With copies of the church directory spread in front of us, we talked about every person in this parish—every single one.

The work takes hours. Sometimes, we know a lot about a person’s life; other times, we know little more than a name. We pray for pastoral concerns. We talk about personalities and histories and celebrate the gifts each person brings to Grace. We discern where each person might enter more fully into the life and ministry of this parish.

I have written before about my favorite image from C.S. Lewis’s Voyage of the Dawn Treader, where believers are constantly invited “higher up and further in.” So it is in our parish: your clergy are constantly looking for ways that you can move closer to God, root yourself more deeply in belief.

How does all this relate to stewardship?

When the clergy gather for this membership review, we don’t talk about money. We don’t even have current information about who pledges. (As a reminder, that information is confidential and carefully shared only as needed.) But we do see the strands of connection and commitment intertwining. Each family, each person, is part of a growing cord. My hope is that when the time comes, you will add a pledge as a third strand of that braid.

Grace is made strong by these bonds. We need the ties that bind each and every individual person to this place. We are not sustained by just a few generous and resourced givers. What really strengthens our parish is the strong bond between this place and each of its members.

It’s a grass-roots spirituality. Grace Church needs each pledge, large or small, as an expression of spiritual commitment. We need each of you, in whatever state you are in. It is not the amount of pledge that matters. What matters is the existence of connection and that connection’s expression in tangible commitment.

I am grateful for each one of you and all that you bring to this place.

Yours in Christ,
Anne+