May 2022

 

Dear friends in Christ, 

I greet you in the name of God: the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sustainer. 

I write to you today about Stewardship. 

Many of you have heard this story already, but I never get tired of telling it. Just over 3 years ago, a little church that had faithfully followed in the Way of Jesus for 10 years with half-time ministers, decided they wanted to make a go at growing, making the jump to paying a full-time, ordained minister. That’s where I had the incredible blessing of joining you on this journey (and I thank God every day for that!) 

We received a great deal of support from the Diocese – 2 years of partial funding – to bridge this ambitious step. What a leap of faith you made, and continue to make, dear Church. You continue to humble and inspire me. 

And while the last 3 years have been dominated by Covid, God has nonetheless done amazing things through us.

Just this year, we baptized five new people into the family of God (with at least 2 more scheduled for this year); we opened our doors in the wake of the Tantalus Mall Fire, and have continued to support the displaced residents, months later; we laid the groundwork for and have begun active ministry in Whistler; and we have begun to dream, pray and plan for a more developed children’s ministry which will start in September. 

Wow. I am continuously in awe of all that we have accomplished, and are accomplishing, together, with God’s help. 

In terms of finances, we began the year budgeting for a deficit of about $30 thousand dollars. So far, we have been holding steady to a $12 thousand dollar deficit. Considering we do not have the diocesan support anymore, and are paying to fix the roof, that is honestly an impressive position to be in.  

However, I believe that we can improve on this. Already, we have seen an increase in the number of groups renting our space. 

And now, for anyone reading this letter, I have a series of requests that I invite you to prayerfully consider:

 

  1. If you pledge or give regularly to St. John the Divine (if so, thank you – we couldn’t do this without you) and are not on pre-authorized giving, I encourage you to sign up. It is easy and allows for consistent income for parish operations.

 

  1. If you pledge or give regularly to St. John the Divine, and are in a place to do so, I invite you to increase your pledge for the rest of the year, even by just a small amount. To practice what I preach, I have committed to increasing my own pledge for the rest of 2022. 

 

  1. If you are not someone who has pledged to the ministry of St. John’s for this year, whether you are a “member” or not, I invite you to do so – pledge for the last 6 months of 2022! It doesn’t matter how big or small, every gift makes a difference and is gratefully received. 

Thank you for reading this far. While I ask these things, know that stewardship is more than money. It is also about relationships, time, talent, skills, prayers, and more. Thank you for the ways that all of you are so generous with these things already – it is integral to our continued ministry in this place.  

May God bless you. May God bless us, and give us the faith, love and grace to continue to be salt and light, members of the beloved community, in the Sea to Sky. 

A copy of our pledge card can be downloaded below.

Faithfully yours,

The Rev. Cameron Gutjahr

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