2024 Stewardship
Letter to the Congregation

Dear Parish Family and Friends,  

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First, let’s celebrate! We met one of the biggest challenges of the year through your generosity and commitment to St. John’s. Together, we raised over $25,000 and replaced our aging air conditioning unit. We also ran several smaller fund raisers like Bingo and Yard Sales that helped pay a few of our outstanding bills. What a blessing.

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For programming, we offered an intriguing event: A Race Against Race Quilt Series by Carol Burnside–Curious Priest and Quilter for Racial Justice. We publicized this social justice exhibit regionally during Black History month and it garnered much praise. In March, we followed up on the quilting theme and sponsored a Gyleen Fitzgerald workshop. Ms. Fitzgerald is a lifelong Episcopalian, a resident of Havre de Grace, and is nationally recognized for her fabric art. Upcoming programs include our Christmas Bazaar on November 16th and our first annual Children’s Christmas Pageant, in collaboration with Holy Trinity Churchville, which the children will present at both churches on December 22nd.

Among other 2024 blessings were the grants we received from the Diocese. The larger grant was designated to offset our Diocesan financial allotment which had been in arrears while the second grant has been targeted for two projects: a children’s learning center room which is nearing completion (a ribbon cutting is in the works) and a senior action club. St. John’s Cupboard has also received grants which assist with providing needed supplies for those in need. And the Mosaic Center received a small grant for a sport team outreach. This is the point: we want to meet people where they are.
 

Although we could not call a full-time priest (which would require a full-time priest’s salary, health insurance, funding for pension plan, etc.) we appreciate our long-term supply priest, Father Josh Messick, who blesses us each week, and Deacon Jane O’Leary who still comes once a month. We are currently using supply organists and pianists. We are grateful for our dedicated Vestry.

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Where do we go from here? At this time, each year, we reach out to you, our Parish family and friends, to help us reach into the future. Our Vestry has had its annual retreat, and tentative plans are in place for 2025. But we need your help to move forward. While the Vestry has had vibrant discussions, we also had a reality check. Bottom line: our current level of giving is not equivalent to our monthly expenses. Some of our highest ticket items, such as insurance ($16,500/year), electricity ($1,010/month), and fuel oil ($7,100/year) continue to press us into the red zone. It’s a juggling act: how do we manage major infrastructure projects, outreach, operational costs, and programming? And why do we do these things? Our mission stands to bring the love of Christ to the community. We want to be a haven and a quiet cove in a time of storms and divisiveness in the world. We want to nurture community.

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Please, prayerfully consider how you will pledge this year and, if possible, increase your financial promise during this 2025 stewardship campaign. Much of what we can accomplish in the future is based on your prayerful decisions today. Please complete and return the enclosed pledge sheet before Thanksgiving. We post updates and news on our website regularly. https://www.stjohnshdg.org/  

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Peace and love,

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Irmgarde Brown, Senior Warden

Ray Mastnjak, Junior Warden