Service, Sharing, Community
Stewardship Campaign 2023

As the Stewardship Committee was thinking about this year’s stewardship campaign theme, we tried to find the key concepts that captured how we feel about St. John’s, our relationship to it, and the impact it has on our lives. As we thought about it, we landed on the words captured in our logo: Service, Sharing, Community.

Service can be understood in several ways. For instance, service may refer to our worship services. We have a mode of worship that is very participatory. We read four passages of Scripture each week. We sing at least three, and usually four or five, hymns, and we bet you’ve noticed that we sing every verse! We have common prayer in which we name the people for whom we are praying, the people for whom we care. We know these people. At one time or another we’ve all been named in the prayers, if for no other reason than birthday/anniversary blessings or our rotating cycle of naming and expressing thankfulness for the members of St. John’s. Don’t worry. You may be new to St. John’s, but you’ll make it on that list soon enough, and you’re already a part of the community’s prayers.

Service also refers to the ways we serve each other and the Greater Lafayette community, from programs that help hungry people get food, provide space for 12-step groups to meet, help parents provide Christmas presents for their families, help people find housing and shelter. These are some of the ways we help advance the Kingdom of Heaven and show forth God’s love. We continue to look for more and more opportunities to serve.

Sharing is the basis for service. We share God’s love and our lives. We do that, in part, by sharing our time, talent, and treasure. St. Paul talks about the body having many members, and all of them having value. At St. John’s we share our gifts and abilities, and time and again someone steps up with the skills and willingness to sing in the choir, usher, read or pray, organize an event, change the light bulbs, and so on.  None of us can (or should) do everything, but through our collective efforts, we get it done. We share in the life of St. John’s, and it is through this sharing that we create our common life. One of the specific ways we do this is by making an annual pledge of financial support to the church’s ministry. Our entire ministry is funded by the generosity of St. John’s members. 

With God’s blessing, through our service and sharing, we create the community of St. John’s. The love we show each other shines forth in all our interactions, activities, and programs. Now in this season of stewardship, we make the financial commitment that makes all of our life together possible. We know that once again the people of St. John’s will step up to give generously to make our service, sharing, and community flourish.

Look for more information coming soon about next year’s budget from the Finance Committee. Pledge cards will be available this Sunday, October 15 and next Sunday, October 22 at church. Cards that aren’t picked up will go in the mail soon after. You can also beat the rush and PLEDGE ONLINE. If you have any questions about pledging online, please contact St. John’s Associate for Administration and Finance, Teresa Lorhman by EMAIL or at 765.742.4079, ext. 101.  

If you have any questions for us about the campaign, please don’t hesitate to reach out to one of us.  In the meantime, we are so grateful for all of the ways that your acts of service and sharing help create the St. John’s community. Thank you in advance for your generosity and for being a part of this community with us.

Sincerely,

 -The St. John’s Stewardship Committee

Bill McInerney, chair
Jamie Davis
Cindy Gerlach
Kristine Holtvedt
Kathy Johnson