October is Stewardship month. You should receive a letter and pledge card in the mail during the first week of October. The official Stewardship Sunday will be October 14, 2007, when we will have a special Stewardship sermon. Parishioners are encouraged to return their pledge card on Commitment Sunday, October 21. However, you can make your pledge at any time.

We seek to raise approximately $5 million dollars to allow us to meet our annual budget for 2008. Our goal is also to begin to implement the first phase of the Strategic Plan. The finance committee will set the church budget in January, 2008, after the completion of the Stewardship Campaign.

The Stewardship Campaign provides money for our annual budget. It pays for everything we need to run the church – including worship services, Sunday School for children and adults, operations and maintenance of the building, staff salaries, mission and outreach, music programs, pastoral care, etc. The “Expanding our Faith” Capital Campaign seeks funds for long-term projects. The capital campaign allowed the church to purchase property north of the church, pay off additional debt, and make plans to renovate church space for our Youth ministry department. Any money you give to the Capital Campaign should be in addition to your annual pledge.

The church accepts check, cash, credit card, or stock gifts. Many parishioners find that it’s easiest to pay by credit card each month. If you pay by cash, the Stewardship office is happy to provide you with offering envelopes to ease the record-keeping. Gifts of stock or appreciated securities can also be made. Please mark on your pledge card your preferred method of payment or contact Karen Linn in the Stewardship office if you have any questions.

Of course, you may donate in the collection plate at any time. However, pledges are important because they allow the church to plan responsibly and set the annual operating budget. Ninety percent of our annual budget comes from pledges.

In addition to making a pledge, many parishioners also make a small cash donation in the collection plate while attending worship service. In this way, we are bonded together as a community of believers, fulfilling our need to give. Cash donations from the collection plate help to support various outreach programs. For example, it has been the tradition at Saint Michael to take all the “plate money” from Christmas and Easter to support local, national and international outreach programs.

It is not necessary to use offering envelopes if you send payment by check. However, to track cash donations for tax purposes, you may use offering envelopes. You may ask for offering envelopes by checking the appropriate box on the pledge card, or by calling Karen Linn in the Stewardship office, 214-365-9343, x230.

Our pledges are gifts to fund the operations and efforts of Saint Michael. This parish operates under a unified budget. The budget is set each year by the Finance Committee, and approved by the Vestry. This approach allows the leadership of the church to ensure that the budget supports the vision of the church’s future, and ensures that all areas of the church receive support each year, and not just particular projects. If individuals were to restrict how their pledge could be used, the church would run the serious risk of not being able to meet its basic costs.

In addition to pledges to the annual budget, you can indeed make a restricted gift to a specific area. We ask that you please support the annual Stewardship campaign first. We always welcome and appreciate all financial gifts to the church.

A pledge is an estimate to facilitate church budgeting, but it is not a legal obligation. If something happens (such as a job loss, serious illness, or other financial trouble) that makes it impossible for you to meet your pledge, please notify Karen Linn in the Stewardship Office, 214-365-9343, x230.

We challenge you to think prayerfully about your gift to the church. The Bible teaches us that God richly blesses those who give faithfully and sacrificially of their Time, Talent and Treasure. Throughout history, Christians have responded by tithing, or giving a tenth (10%) of their gross income. However, if you are not ready for that level of giving, we encourage you to pledge a lower percentage with the goal of increasing your pledge each year.

Proportional giving is based on the premise that the first fruits are given back to God in a faithful response to what God has given us. We ask each parishioner to consider making an annual pledge in proportion to income. “Each of you is to bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you.” Deuteronomy 16:17

For the 2007 Stewardship Campaign, approximately 46% of our parishioners made a pledge. For the past 10 years, we have ranged between 45% and 50% participation. Our goal, of course, is to increase that significantly.

Saint Michael has always fully complied with our assessment to the national church and local diocese. Saint Michael must continue to support the church outside our walls in order to support such programs as the seminaries, Episcopal churches in other countries, and mission work around the nation and the world.

Saint Michael is an active and vibrant church community. We need your financial gifts now to support the numerous ongoing programs at the church. From the youngest child to the oldest VIP, Saint Michael endeavors to create a loving, nurturing environment through a vast array of worship services, excellent classes, support groups and outreach programs. What will happen to these programs if you withhold your pledge?

The leadership of Saint Michael is committed to being good stewards of your financial contributions. The largest areas of the budget are as follows:

Money the church donates for Mission and Outreach comes from a variety of sources. However, only part of the money given away comes from the annual budget, or your Stewardship pledges. Other money – such as donations for youth and adult mission trips – is raised through fundraising efforts outside the annual budget.

It is important to note that your Stewardship dollars provide the platform for a multitude of Outreach activities that would not be possible without the inspiration and support of the church. A total of $2.2 million dollars was donated from our Parish for Outreach, Diocesan and National church activities in 2006.