More Information About Stewardship and Giving

“Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.” – 1 Peter 4:10

Jesus’ message to us about how we use our resources is one of the most challenging elements of the Gospel. The ministry of Stewardship is an invitation to take up this challenge. When we are generous, we acknowledge the abundance in our lives – and our confidence in God’s bounty. And when we give to St. Margaret’s, we claim this community for our own with its rich tradition of hospitality and service and its extraordinary potential.

If we follow the tradition of the “tithe,” our challenge is to give 10 percent of our (pre-tax) earnings to support God’s work. That’s hard to do overnight, but many of us at St. Margaret’s start the journey by giving 2 percent and then try to increase that percentage each year. Nothing about that journey seems easy – unless we start by acknowledging the abundance of gifts and resources we have been given.

Each fall, the Stewardship Committee sponsors a pledge drive, asking parishioners to make a pledge for the following year. These pledges help the Vestry build a budget, as our fiscal year is the same as the calendar year. Pledges can be paid in a single gift or transfer of stock, as a recurring charge to your bank card, as a scheduled direct debit from your bank account, or they can be paid throughout the year by putting cash or checks in the offering plate in special envelopes provided for that purpose.

The combination of knowledge (information), wisdom (planning), obedience (to Biblical principles), and power (the Holy Spirit’s) is the key to everything, including the stewardship of money. The financial health of all churches rely on financial contributions to sustain and grow its congregation. Below you will find information on Giving & Stewardship, The Legacy Society, Endowment, and Other Ways to Give at Saint Margaret’s.

Planned Giving

You can also support St. Margaret’s financially through planned giving. A planned gift might be in the form of a bequest, a trust, or by naming St. Margaret’s as the beneficiary of an insurance policy or a retirement account. These commitments support St. Margaret’s in the long term and are gratefully received. Click here to learn about proportional giving.

Frequently Asked Questions about Stewardship

I’m not sure what I can afford this year. How can I pledge?

A pledge can be adjusted throughout the year if your circumstances change. We suggest that you pledge responsibly, based on your best estimate of the year’s income. A pledge can be increased or decreased if your circumstances change.

Loose funds collected each week do help to support the ongoing life of the parish. However, pledges are very important because they enable us to plan responsibly and to establish a parish operating budget for the coming year.

Returning your pledge card is simply a promise to pay. Once you’ve made your pledge, you can fulfill it in as many payments as you wish throughout the year. The pledge secretary can provide you with weekly pledge envelope designed to help you with your payments. You can also obtain a current pledge card at the Welcome Center.

Pledges are actively gathered in the middle of November around St. Margaret’s Day, but they are gratefully received throughout the year.

St. Margaret’s accepts cash (when included in a pledge envelope), checks, MasterCard, or Visa. If you use a credit card, consider adding an additional three percent to your pledge to cover bank processing costs. You can use the blue donation button above to set up payments from your credit card. You may also make a pledge payment of stock or other securities. In most cases, such a pledge payment may be considered a charitable deduction to avoid capital gains on the appreciation of the stock. Please contact the church office to learn how to make a gift of securities.

Corporate matching gifts are welcome. St. Margaret’s has set aside a special account for funds to be used for non-religious purposes to allow companies that are unable to give to churches to help support St. Margaret’s work in the community. If you think your employer might be willing to provide matching gifts, please contact the church office to make arrangements.

Yes. If you plan to give stock or securities to the church, please contact the parish office for details about the process.

Proportional giving is based on the premise that the first fruits are given back to God in grateful response to what God has given us. It refers to a conscious effort to determine an appropriate level of giving. We ask each parishioner to consider making an annual pledge in proportion to income. It is the teaching of the Episcopal Church and the biblical norm to give 10 percent of one’s income.

We believe strongly that our standard of giving should reflect our standard of living. We ask each parishioner to consider making a pledge that is both responsible and significant based on his or her financial situation.

Annual pledges are just one part of the practice of generosity and stewardship that undergirds our parish life. An annual pledge supports St. Margaret’s annual budget. Planned giving is a gift or series of gifts that can help secure the church’s ministries beyond our individual lifetimes. Special gifts fund additional parish priorities such as building renovation, community outreach, and program and endowment support.

Gracious and generous God, everything we have and all that we are comes from you, and you call us to be faithful stewards of our time, talent and treasure.

Help us ground our daily lives in thankfulness for all your gifts and mindfulness of how these gifts shape our material and spiritual well-being, our parish, community and world.

Help us return to you for your work a generous proportion of all your blessings to us, and grant us the courage to give according to your teachings with the Holy Spirit as our guide.

Help us take the next step together to discern and grow into a fuller understanding of what it means to be good and faithful stewards of our time, talent and treasure.

We ask this in the Name of Jesus, our Companion on the Way.  Amen.

Annual pledges support everything we do and are at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church. Our yearly budget is driven by the generosity of our parishioners through annual pledges. These pledges support all the operating costs of our ministry programs as well as our building and staff operations, and expenses such as heating, outreach grants, worship leaflets, and nursery caregivers.

For more information on Giving & Stewardship, email us.

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