ST MARTIN-IN-THE-FIELDS
E P I S C O P A L C H U R C H
October 12, 2008
Dear Friends in Worship,
This is the second letter in a series of personal notes for this year’s Stewardship Pledge Campaign. Please take the time to pray about your own stewardship and how each of you can share your time, talents, and treasure.
I’d like to reflect on my years at St. Martin’s and the significance that St. Martin’s has made in my life. It’s been wonderful and spiritually rewarding to be a part of this congregation. Words can’t express the awe that I feel when I see the commitment of all who work and worship harmoniously to help St. Martin’s grow in faith and spirituality. I am blessed to belong to a church family with so many diverse talents. These talents often synchronize to form a whole, fluent body.
I witnessed the unbelievable transformation of this small church that resulted in individualized Sunday school classrooms, a large, warm, and joyous Nursery, a big, modern kitchen, private rooms for individual counsel, and many other additions that answered the needs of a growing congregation. I’ve watched our annual Chicken Barbeque grow from serving 200 dinners to serving 1100 dinners as well as adding a fantastic Silent Auction. Most importantly I marvel at how our entire congregation selflessly serves the community through this event, even when they’re tired and weary.
I’ve seen the generosity of the parishioners change lives through our Outreach programs. Clothing and gift donations, as well as time volunteering have improved lives and morale of the residents of Haven House and the patrons of Loaves and Fishes. Our weekly Thanksgiving offerings have helped those in third world countries suffering with AIDS, and have helped countless other individuals in need, including the people whose lives were destroyed by hurricanes. The simple, yet powerful act of signing greeting cards have cheered the parishioners who are unable to travel to our House of Worship, and have let them know that we think of them and that they are missed.
Music, which is a spiritual inspiration that is dear to my heart, is another gift with which we have been greatly blessed. The Spirit of Christ spreads through song. We spiritually reach out to many, whether it’s through the youth choir, the adult choir, or the Christmas Pageant.
I am taking this time to remember the tremendous amount of talent St. Martin’s has, and the time unselfishly spent by all, which is a testament to how good we all are in our stewardship. I am proud to be part of a congregation of such great stewards, and I, likewise, try to be a good steward with my time, talent, and treasure. Treasure was a piece to which I never really gave a lot of thought. It wasn’t until recently that I even knew or understood tithing and what tithing even means. When I did finally understand it, the next thing that I understood was how embarrassingly far away I was from tithing. I felt terrible because I was unable to immediately start tithing. The good thing is that there is a solution. Instead of tithing I’m working toward it by percentile giving. Each year I raise my pledge amount by a higher percentage, even if it’s only a ¼ of a percent. This is something that I can handle, and I also know that some day I will be able to tithe. I pray that each of you consider working toward this goal as well. May God be with you as you consider your time, talents, and treasure and how you can offer them to our Parish.
Faithfully,
Paula Cramer
Sr. Warden
2587 Baseline Road ¨ Grand Island, NY 14072-1656
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