Dear Sisters and Brothers at Christ Church,
All week long I've been buzzing with good energy from last Sunday's Faith Full Giving service and party. I'm so excited that we can ask the question "Who is God calling us to be?" seriously, not rhetorically. I'm really curious to learn how the Spirit is moving in each of us share our blessings with more people. In my note today I want to thank all of you who provided such thoughtful answers in church on Sunday to the question animating our Faith Full Giving drive. From the deepest part of me I also want to thank all of you who have been able to make a pledge to support Christ Church in 2023. Your commitment means an awful lot to me personally because it validates much of the work the staff and leadership of Christ Church are up to. But there's more, too. The commitment of so many good people to the shared project of sharing more and more love with our community helps buoy my faith in humanity. Together, we're sharing our resources to create something larger than our individual selves. Theologically, St. Paul would say we're learning how to be the Body of Christ for a hungry world. More whimsically, I feel like we're all learning to dance together to the same music.
I want to call out a few folks in particular for gratitude in our "Who is God calling you to be?" campaign. Andrew Massey led our effort as chair of the committee this year. Sally Han serves our vestry as liaison to Faith Full Giving. Andrew Han, Sheri Stock, Ashley Jackson and Jose Quinonez rounded out our crack committee. Our great speakers included Kimble Helms, Matt Ganser and Allison Melendez. Jose, Andrew Han, Sheri and Hale Foote pulled our party together. Juan and Luz Garcia catered the event. The church staff -Will Scott, Ashley Jackson, and Michael Moran- worked really hard to pull all of this together. I am so grateful for the work and love and energy of all these people.
If you have not already made a pledge to Christ Church for 2023, we'd be grateful if you could. That will help us to pull our budget together in time for the new year. May God continue to bless you all, and may you continue passing on those blessings to the people around you.
Peace,
Stephen