As we enter our 2022 stewardship season, I wanted to take a moment to offer a vision for the future that builds on our current strengths.
Church in general is a place where we come to be made whole. Once there, we find that our wholeness is found in others as we link our hearts and let the Spirit flow through us. It is a place where we come to be healed, but find that our healing ultimately comes from our helping others to heal (including those outside the church) as we build one another up. Each time we try to be a blessing to others, we end up doubly blessed ourselves. A true church is a place where one can make a big blunder, figure out what led us to do it, share that, and be loved for it. We know, after all, that we are on a journey and it is the process that matters. Church, a true church, is a place of safety for all those who want to engage in this process and find their purpose in God.
St. James is a place where we lift one another up rather than seeking to tear town, where we help to free rather than seek to constrict, where we identify the gifts of others and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit as it leads us towards meaningful uses of those gifts. St. James is a place where our plans are secondary to God’s plans, our steps to achieve them always open to reevaluation in the light of God’s nudging, and where the point is not perfection (the purview of God), but relationship. Imagine the possibilities in a gathering of people who accept their humanity and revel in their gifts as they work together in the service of God.
It is this vision that we ask you to support with your time, talent, and treasure. It means to be in relationship with us, to work together, think together, pray together, forgive together, grow together.”