Clichés become clichés because they are a jolly good way of expressing things. And the most apt cliché to describe the current financial situation at St. Stephen’s is: “It never rains but it pours.”
It is no secret that the state of the national economy has been thoroughly rotten for the past three years, and that giving at all churches, including St. Stephen’s, has been less than spectacular.
A vast majority of churches report declines in income over the three years—some very steep indeed. At St. Stephen’s things have been less dramatic. After an initial modest shrinkage, parish income has remained relatively stable.
However, despite the economic downturn—or perhaps because of —our overheads have continued upwards. Thus the Vestry is asking each of our parishioners and friends prayerfully to consider increasing your financial support this year.
We are hoping for a modest increase in pledges for the short term. And with a view to the longer term, we are renewing our appeal for contributions the parish Endowment Fund in order to secure the parish’s future.
Thanks to your past generosity, the fund currently stands at just under $200,000. Our aim is to double that figure over the next couple of years.
The purpose of the Endowment Fund is to enable the parish to weather economic downturns like the present recession without having to slash programs or cut the salaries of our already underpaid church staff.
The Vestry is also hoping to raise a little money to invest in the parish’s future by building a children’s play area behind the church. Every other church in the neighborhood has a play area, and the vestry believes that such a “child friendly” investment would be useful in attracting young families.
Now we come to the “it never rains but it pours” bit. On the morning of Bishop Vaughan’s consecration our organ, which had been ailing the previous Sunday, finally “gave up the ghost.” The good folks at the Ray Daffer organ company saved the day by loaning us a new instrument while they repair ours.
That was the good news. The bad news is that the repairs, for which we had not been budgeted, will cost us at lot of money—quite how much we don’t yet know, but at least several thousand dollars.
We would be most grateful if you can see your way clear to helping us raise the money to cover these unexpected costs.
Please don’t imagine the parish is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. Actually, it’s reasonably healthy all things considered. But, to be quite honest, we haven’t begged for your increased financial support in quite a long time. We do hope you listen to our needs sympathetically and give us a helping hand if you can afford it. BILL HAWKINS
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