A Message from Pastor Stephen
Dear friends,
A few weeks ago, on September 24, we celebrated our first Ministry Fair since 2019. It was a bustling scene—newcomers and long-timers chatting, learning, and exploring the creative booths for so many of our activities at Incarnation.
In my sermon that morning I commented that we often talk about giving to God’s work through our “time, talent, and treasure,” and that in a way, our Ministry Fair was the first half of our fall pledge campaign: a pledge campaign for time and talent. Everyone can participate in some way in the ministries of our church—some a lot, some a little, but everyone has their part.
Now we are starting the financial piece of our pledge campaign. Just as every Christian is called to use our time and talents in ministry, every Christian is also called to use the money placed in our care toward God’s kingdom. We do that by making good choices about how we save it, how we spend it to care for ourselves and our loved ones, and finally, how we give an intentional percentage of it toward causes we believe in—including our parish.
The money we contribute together to Incarnation makes our ministry possible. Just this past year we launched several exciting new initiatives:
- Our new Children’s Choir program helps young people praise God and learn to make music together.
- Our new Pastoral Care Coordinator, Doreen Van Leeuwen, is strengthening our ways of caring for one another and staying connected with those in need.
- Our Becoming Beloved Community team is bringing us a diverse group of guest speakers, field trip opportunities, and other ways to pursue racial justice and healing.
- Our Invite-Welcome-Connect team created our new Welcome Center and is working to help us grow in welcoming guests and newcomers.
- Our Green Team is moving us closer to carbon neutrality and helping us find ways to pursue sustainability in our daily lives.
- Our Imagine Incarnation process is bringing us together to develop a vision for our campus to best serve God’s mission in the decades to come.
As we celebrate our 150th anniversary this fall, we want to keep these initiatives going—and keep listening for God’s call to new possibilities, too. In our congregation we have those who can contribute a very small amount of money and those who can contribute a great deal. Perhaps you’re able to give 2% of your income, or 5%, or 10%. Whatever the amount, our hope is that every single member and friend of our parish will make a pledge this year. Our ministry is something we do together, as many members of the one Body of Christ.
Will you join me in making your pledge to support the work we are doing together in 2024? I know God has new adventures ahead for us, and I’m so grateful that we get to embark on them together.
In Christ’s love,Stephen+
October 6, 2023
