This week has been a wonderful week in giving. And one of the gifts of being a Rector is getting to know about both the big and the small moments of generosity in our congregation. I thought it would be nice to share with you what a generous week looks like.
First, our pledge campaign for 2021 is wrapping up, and your responses heartened me so much. 61 households increased their pledge for 2021, and 12 new households began pledging. We are at $356k pledges for next year. Thank you for your commitment and your investment in the mission and ministry of St. Luke’s in 2021. (And if you haven’t yet pledged, we’re still hoping for another 5 pledges to come in. Please let us know!)
Everyone also knows our Share Your Christmas and Alternative Gifts Fair are underway. Since each household is giving directly to our AGF agencies, we don’t have a way to track those gifts. But with Share Your Christmas, I’m thrilled that we’re already half-way to our goal. By December 16th, we hope to raise close to $4,000 to ensure 70 folks will have enough this holiday season. Click here for a reminder of how to give.
And then there are a few things that are probably not on your radar. Quickly, very quickly, people have signed up to bake cookies for our Christmas Cheer Porch Drop-Off project. It’s been wonderful to watch the sign-ups come in, and I’m looking forward to thanking our bakers at drop-off on the 11th.
This week we also facilitated a food drop off/pick up at St. Luke’s between a family who had more than enough food and a family who needed more food.
And the highlight of my week is that a handful of St. Luke’s members heard about a need and met it. One of the dear people who regularly use our food pantry let us know that their vehicle broke down and became unrepairable this week. It meant that this single father had no transportation to get to work, and no way to move his 4 children around town. It was especially scary for him because one of his children has a chronic illness that needs regular medical attention. He had no cash on hand, and his credit rating wouldn’t enable him to finance any car. So a group of St. Lukers put their thinking caps on, came up with ideas of who to ask and creative ways of finding a solution. Several members gave generously, before a plan was even in place. And our friend found his family a running minivan for $700. With donations from several members, plus the amount he got for scrap from his beyond-repair minivan, plus a bit from my discretionary fund, we were able to fund the purchase of this vehicle for the family.
Moments of generosity have been abundant this week. Thank you for the ways you are living into the image of our generous and life-giving God.
stlukesdurham.org 