2025 Stewardship
Pledge Drive
Wealth, Works, & Wisdom
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love,
as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us,
a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Ephesians 5:1-2, NRSV
Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. John’s in the Mountains,
Generosity is a journey, it is a practice that we learn and nurture within our hearts. It simply isn’t in our nature to give away what we have worked hard to acquire or to donate our precious time without compensation. It takes something as radical as Love to inspire us to share our time, talent, and treasure with others. This is a journey we make together as Christians in community, it’s a Walk in Love.
As we have lived with the Gospel of St. Mark this year, through is faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we have reflected on the first-century world turned radically upside down. The laws and customs that had been in place for centuries were challenged, power and dominion were questioned, and the oppression of God’s people could no longer be accepted.
As it turns out, it is not clever politics or force that causes the change, but the simplest act of Love. Jesus caused a revolution of heart by daring us to reach out to the outcast, the oppressed, and the forgotten and taught his followers to do the same. He walked in love with the marginalized, with the poor, with the sick, and brings us along with him on his journey. “Do this in remembrance of me,” he said. These words give shape to our faith well beyond the altar on Sunday mornings.
The most miraculous gift of Love is that it is here within us, even if unseen, and all we have to do is embrace God’s abiding love and build our life and faith in Love. Look what happens when we do so! We share, we give, we volunteer, we set the oppressed free; we feed, pray, visit, and strive to do as Jesus did, to Walk in love. This year as our Stewardship Campaign kicks off, we are intentionally raising up stories of how we Walk in Love with each other and with the world. I invite you to share your stories of inspiration and connection at St. John’s in the Mountains. I invite you to Walk in Love, as Christ loves us.
Fr. Rick Swanson
Rector
2025 Walk in Love Pledge Letter
Fr. Rick’s Sermons: Sunday, August 25, 2024
Vestry & Parishioner Reflections on YouTube
Stewardship comes in many forms, including our financial gifts in response to the amazing love of God and Jesus Christ in our lives. Please prayerfully consider your support for the ministry of St John’s in the Mountains.
Thank you for your participation in the full life of St John’s in the Mountains.
Walk In Love updates:
Sunday, October 27, 2024
Special thanks to Andy Rodman for his wonderful reflection at this past Sunday's Morning Prayer. I hope you all found his words as inspiring as I did. This Sunday, we will hear from Wendelyn Duquette, who will reflect on why she worships and serves St. Johns in the Mountains. This will conclude our special reflections from our members. Next week, the Seasons of Giving team will be mailing out our final letter and pledge card, so be on the lookout for these items. Please contact me if you have any questions! I can be reached at 802-760-7172.
Sunday, October 20, 2024
During the past two Sunday services we have heard reflections from longtime parishioners Rich Reed and Deb Clark. They both talked about the fellowship that brings us all together at St. Johns in the Mountains. What brings you to St. John's? This coming Sunday we will hear from Andy Rodman, one of our "newer" parishoners on what " Walking in Love" is all about. Andy serves not only on the vestry but also the building and grounds committee and the Season's of Giving team!
Please note that we will celebrate the ingathering with a special brunch on Sunday November 10th after church. We hope you can make it! Pete Johnson
Sunday, October 13, 2024
I hope everyone has had a chance to read the Wardens’ letter (see link above) to the parish continuing our conversation on the "Walk in Love" campaign. In the next few weeks, we will be hearing from parishioners, Vestry members, and Seasons of Giving members, inviting us and inspiring us to all "Walk in Love". Reflections will be shared during our worship services, and we will continue to send out more specific information from the vestry and SOG committee on how to get involved. We will wrap up the campaign with an ingathering on November 10th.
We invite you all to Walk in Love with us!”
Pete Johnson
Sunday, October 6, 2024
“Last Sunday I reflected on what it means it means to me to Walk in Love. The giving of time, talent and treasure in order to take care of home known to all as St. Johns in the Mountains Episcopal Church. This week we will hear a reflection from long time parishioner Rich Reed. What does it mean to you to Walk in Love? Please give some time to reflect on our spiritual home and how we can be protecting it so it can be our home for years to come.”
Pete Johnson
Sunday, September 29, 2024
“I hope everyone has had a chance to read Fr Rick's letter to the parish introducing our new "Walk in Love" campaign. In the next few weeks we will be hearing from parishioners, Vestry members and Seasons of giving members, inviting us and inspiring us to all "Walk in Love". Reflections will be shared during our worship services, and we will continue to send out more specific information from the vestry and SOG committee on how to get involved. We will wrap up the campaign with an ingathering on November 10th.
We invite you all to Walk in Love with us!”
Pete Johnson
St John’s and You
Charitable programming is always in full pledge mode asking us all to become good stewards and to give as much as we can afford to help keep their organizations in full swing. Volunteers give of their time to talk with us through television commercials, phone calls and mailings about their cause with the wish that we can give as little as $5 a month and become a member of their family or even to become a “Sustainer” at higher levels. To encourage the public’s generosity, various gifts are offered with the hope that they will entice us to continuously give which will net us a T-shirt, calendar, a video or other minor amenities.
Well, there are some parallels between these organizations and the St. John’s in the Mountains’ family. Both depend upon the generosity of their members in order to thrive. At St. John’s there are staff salaries to pay, church building maintenance, new members to recruit and most importantly, financial needs to growing St. John’s new ministries of Art, Music, Wedding and Food.
The gifts that St. John’s offers, however, are much different from those offeredby other charitable organizations. God’s gifts are spiritual and much more difficult to describe or see. They’re not material at all but rather have to beexperienced within one’s self. The fact is, God is always there to help when times become difficult, to offer strength and comfort – and there with you to celebrate the joyful times. The fact is God freely gives to you the gifts of love and support whether you are simply a friend of the St. John’s family or a “sustainer” contributing time, talent and treasure.
Please give some thought to this as we move through the Seasons of Giving toward St. John’s annual pledge appeal. Growing the church and creating exciting new ministries cannot be accomplished without your generosity.
Your Seasons of Giving Ministry
Nat Kinney, David Small, Andy Rodman, Pete Johnson, Barbara Cunningham
Seasons of Giving 2024
“Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to
enter the kingdom of God.” Luke 18:25.
I usually like to reflect on scripture or on a “one liner” from the The Episcopal Newsletter for Stewardship as a topic for a Seasons of Giving Ministry Article. Sometimes though, I find that special phrase or saying that catches my eye and I instinctively tuck it in the corner of my mind only to bring it forth at a later time for the purpose of reflection.
I would like to share with you a number of quotes I have discovered regarding giving and hope that you find one or two that catches your eye and serves as an inspiration in reflecting on what generosity means in your life.
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” – Winston Churchill
“Everyman must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“I don’t think we ever stop giving. I really don’t. I think it is an ongoing process. And it’s not just about being able to write a check. It’s being able to touch somebody’s life.” – Oprah Winfrey
“No one has ever become poor by giving.” – Anne Frank
“Happiness….consists in giving, and in serving others.” – Henry Drummond
“I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.” – Maya Angelou
“If you haven’t got any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble.” – Bob Hope
“It is the preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else that prevents us from living freely and nobly.” – Henry Thoreau
“I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare.” – C.S. Lewis
“A hospital visitor saw a nurse tending to the sores of a leprosy patient, and said, “I’d never do that for a million dollars!” The nurse answered, “Neither would I. But I do it for Jesus for nothing.” - Anonymous
Remember, in the Seasons of Giving, generosity can mean time, talent and treasure. God the Giver has given to each of us special talents, talents which we can use to make a difference in another’s life.
Your Seasons of Giving Ministry,
Pete Johnson, Nat Kinney, Andy Rodman, David Small, Barbara Cunningham
David Small, Nat Kinney, Andy Rodman,
Pete Johnson