Dear Members and Friends of St. John’s, From Gratitude and Generosity to Abundance - a profound equation. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17 Gratitude and thanksgiving are attitudes of worship that are central to the Christian journey. God is the source of all life, and all of creation is held in God’s generous grace and love. Every time we gather and celebrate the Eucharist, we recall God’s mighty acts of generous and abundant love and grace. We seek to cultivate a spirit of gratitude and generosity at St. Johns. As we give thanks for what we have received, we acknowledge the abundance of God’s blessings. In following Jesus, we come to find a peace and true joy in living beyond ourselves. From this place of love and grace we are invited to offer the whole of our lives to God and others as Jesus has done. We take a few simple steps that begin to open our hearts and lives to be generous stewards of all the gifts we have been given. Hebrews 13: 16 says… Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. This is a basic step of stewardship. What we give we give to God out of gratitude for all that he has given and done on our behalf. We give from the abundance of God’s love and grace that we have experienced. We seek to be generous in our giving and trust in God for all our needs. We are faithful in giving to our Diocese, the Northwest Region, and several organizations in our local community. The past few years we have adopted a deficit budget, withdrawing from our investments to cover operating costs. Thanks to you, last year our pledges rose significantly! It appears we will finish this year with a 13% deficit that we will cover from our investments. Our hope for this coming year is to raise our giving to meet our total budgeted cost for 2023. We want to assure you that the Vestry and Finance Committee here at St. John’s will strive to be good stewards of all the resources that God puts at our disposal. The links below are for a pledge card for the year 2022. We invite you to prayerfully consider your gift for the building up of God’s kingdom. In Christ’s love, Betsy Pettit Matthew Frey+ | 
