ST
MARTIN-IN-THE-FIELDS
E P I
S C O P A
L C H U R
C H
Dear Friends,
I am writing to you in connection
with this fall’s Stewardship Pledge Campaign.
During the 5 weeks leading up to the collection of 2009 Pledge Cards on
Pledge Sunday, November 9, 2008, you will be receiving, at church and/or in
your mail, heartfelt personal notes from fellow parishioners letting you know
of the importance St. Martin’s has in the writers’ lives. The weekly letters hope to encourage you to
prayerfully consider your personal Stewardship of your time, talent and
financial treasure – all gifts given to both you and me by our loving and
gracious God.
I’ve been thinking about
Stewardship a lot lately. This is not
entirely surprising, because I am, of course, the
current Stewardship Chair at
Each day as I exit my
downtown building for lunch, I pass by this old, gnarly beggar sitting on a
bench. He says virtually the exact same
thing daily to me (and to anyone else passing by). The old beggar says, over and over in his gravelly
voice, “Any change? Any change for the poor? Any change?”
For a very long time, I
intentionally ignored this old beggar, avoiding any eye contact with him as I
passed by. I often wondered how someone
could sit on a busy corner in the middle of downtown day after day and do the
same foolish thing over and over. Truth
be told, I secretly wished the cops would kick him out of his spot, so I
wouldn’t have to deal with him anymore.
Then, one recent mid-day, I
happened to be passing by the old beggar while I was deep in thought about
things I needed to get done this fall as
The next day, I got up the
courage to look the old beggar in the eye when I walked by. For the first time ever, I acknowledged his
existence and humanity. No, I didn’t
flip him a coin, but, I did look at him, smile, and wave hello. As I passed, I heard him say, softly,
something new, “All right, Boss. You think about it.” Then, as I walked away, he brought his voice
back up to normal volume again, and started up again, “Any change? Any change for the
poor? Any change?”
Since then, I have been thinking
about a lot. I know that there are
things I need to change about my way of living, thinking, caring for those in
need, using my God-given gifts, and managing my assets. I have been praying for God’s help on these
issues. Each annual Stewardship campaign
is a blessing, affording me an opportunity to take time to reflect on who I am
and who God would have me be. I’ve been
saying hello or giving a wave or a smile to the old beggar most every day
lately. I’m planning to increase my
Episcopal Community Services gift because of my encounters with the old
beggar. Thinking about what his life
must be like makes me more thankful than ever for my blessings, one of the
biggest of which is my set of inspirational and supportive friends that I think
of as my
How about you, friend? Any change needed in the way you’re living,
thinking, interacting with people, utilizing your gifts, or managing your
assets? I pray that the weekly personal
notes that will be coming your way this fall will help you to intentionally and
prayerfully consider who you are, and who God would have you be. May
Faithfully,
Eric Boron
Phone/fax: 716-773-3335 ¨ padreking@aol.com ¨
www.StMartinsGI.org
Rector: The Rev'd Earle C.
King, Jr. ¨ Bishop: The Rt. Rev'd J.
Michael Garrison