November 11, 2010
Dear Members of St. Paul’s,
We give thanks to God and to each and every one of you for your continuing support of the mission and ministries of St. Paul’s American Episcopal Church, Rome. Your special gifts of time, skills and financial support are invaluable to the life and work of this unique congregation.
We as a church are blessed by being able to offer a rich witness of Christ’s love to the international community in many ways; in our work with refugees through the Joel Nafuma Refugee Center and our programs for the elderly poor of the city; in our Luminaria concert series; in our participation in ecumenical activities and events, and in our many outreach programs. Even the buildings have their own witness: the carillon, the beauty of the mosaics and the characteristic architecture bring in tourists and students of art, architecture and history from all over the world.
Running such a variety of ministries and maintaining the buildings in addition to providing a spiritual home to all those who come through our doors on Sundays requires a great deal of financial support. In 2010 our budgeted expenses were € 336.700. We are grateful to be able to say that pledges were much higher than in the previous year, but the pledged amount still came to less than 10% of our budgeted expenditure. In order to continue to expand our ministries, we need to plan; and to plan meaningfully, we need to know how much money we will be receiving in the new financial year. Therefore we are asking you, as a member of this community to make a financial pledge for the year 2011. Your pledge, of whatever size, is crucial in enabling the church to prepare its ministries for the coming year. The amount of your pledge will be kept confidential.
In this Stewardship packet you will find two pledge cards, one for your financial support, and one for your offerings of time and talent. We would like you to fill these in and bring them back on Ingathering Sunday, which will be the Feast of Christ the King, November 21st 2010. Completed cards can be placed in the Offering Plate. Pledges can be made at any time during the year, but in order to aid our financial planning, we need to receive them by December 31st at the latest.
Pledges can be paid using the weekly envelopes (please check the appropriate box on the form), or by check. Please contact the Office if you wish to pay by bank transfer.
Sharing the gifts and the bounty that God has given each one of us is both a joy and a privilege, and giving is part of our worship. May God continue to bless our church community, granting us his grace and peace as we continue to in fellowship, sharing our gifts and talents with one another, praying together and learning from each other, loving one another and building up the community of Christ.
"The mission of St Paul's is to bear witness in Rome
to a lively, dynamic Christian faith, open to all and rejecting none."
St. Paul’s Stewardship Committee
Andrea D’Agosto
Robina Kawungu
|