This Week from Mitch
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I am constantly amazed at how quickly time seems to pass. Yesterday the staff put together a brief video showing the past year. As we put together the video, I was forced to take a moment and look at all of the pictures of events since our last Annual Meeting.
I saw pictures in no particular order of: outside worship, our Christmas Eve-Eve service (a punt pop-up service when weather threatened our Christmas Eve plans), Easter, the 70th birthday celebration for St. Martin's, a Habitat rebuild, the hiring of a youth minister, a return to indoor worship, hybrid services, confirmation classes, vaccine administration days performed at the fairgrounds, an alternative Maundy Thursday Service, updated live stream capabilities, new member dinners, and so much more.
Seeing the pictures made me pause. "Holy wow," I thought. "No wonder we get tired." My second thought was, "I am proud of the work we have done and the ministry our church has offered." And my final thought was one of wonder as I contemplated what our church will look like when all of "this" (meaning COVID) finally ends. (Visit our Facebook page or click the "2021 IN REVIEW" button below to view the video, too.)
I know that some things will probably be a part of our community for a long, long time. Things like the streaming of worship and more outdoor activities. I also know that there is a hunger for safe community. In order to provide that community, we need you. We need you to participate in the ministries of worship and prayer! And we need you to participate in the ministry of giving.
Denise and I pledge over a 10th of our income back to the church. While there are many reasons for this, I think these are our top three:
First, we give as a couple, as a thank you to God for all of the blessings in our lives. The act of giving helps us to remain grateful and it helps us be in "right" relationship with our money.
Secondly, we give because we love St. Martin's and all of you. You are our spiritual home. The work we do in and around the church help to mold and form us as Christians and as a family. We give because this formation is important.
And finally, we give because we want St. Martin's and all of you to be a part of our children's lives. We want St. Martin's to be their spiritual home, and their forming church. We believe that spiritual formation and developing their love of Christ begins at home, but it is shaped by the church. We want this church to do the shaping.
If you have not made a pledge for the 2022 budget year, I ask that you pray about it and then make one.
In Christ,
Mitch+
