St. Brigit Episcopal Church 2024 Fall Funding Campaign:
God multiplies our gifts as in Loaves and Fishes!
Dearly beloved supporters of St. Brigit,
Take. Bless. Break. Give.
These are the actions Jesus takes in order to feed the multitudes. (See Mt 14:13-21, Mk 6:31-44, Lk 9:12-17, Jn 6:1-14 – The only story about Jesus that appears in all four Gospels.)
They are the four actions that every priest, in celebrating Eucharist, takes as they consecrate bread and wine to share with the congregation, or to take to shut-ins. Eucharist means “thanksgiving.” Participating in those eucharistic actions is one way our community gives thanks together.
And these are the same four actions that Jesus invites us to take with our own lives:
- Take – Take hold of the life you’ve been given, with all the skills, foibles, shortcomings, and issues. Recognize who you are, and whose you are.
- Bless – Offer up to God’s use what you have: Five loaves and two fishes? Your abilities? A bit of money? Your offering, small or big, knowing that our life giving, loving God will multiply whatever you bring.
- Break – Surrender that offering to God’s use, and prepare to do your part in making it share-able.
- Give – Recognize God’s call to give it away, and do your best to spread your gift – like God’s Good News, far and wide, for building Beloved Community, in the church and beyond.
St. Brigit is asking you to consider your part in giving thanks to God, through your financial support of the work St. Brigit undertakes in our community. Each Sunday in worship during the month of October, you’ll have a chance to hear more about what that work looks like for the coming year. Your financial giving will shape how St. Brigit can continue acting to further God’s work.
Certainly in this past year we have seen God in action, multiplying our resources, our faith, and our impact. Our no-longer-new vicar is just starting his third year with us. We started 2023 looking at a $20,000+ shortfall in our St. B’s projected income. Thanks to skillful leaders, and growth in membership, and increased pledges, and an unexpected gift, we seem to be in pretty good shape through the end of the year. We began the year addressing three priorities discerned by the congregation: gathering to grow stronger, supporting our children and youth as they grow in faith, and developing alternative revenue streams. We’ve made a good start on all three, and look forward to discerning our 2024 priorities.
We’ve also seen exciting developments with Brigit’s Village, our affordable housing initiative, which secured tax credits to allow us to obtain funding and is moving forward with engineering reviews, architectural designs, and permit requests. We hope for completion of the building in three years’ time. And Brigit’s Bounty Community Resources (BBCR), which lost significant grant funding, is asking increased hands-on support from the St. Brigit community. Our funding and our “sweat equity” will enable BBCR to continue offering a literal ton of food support to our local community.
God is taking our many gifts and multiplying them. And God is inviting us to do our part to fund St. Brigit’s 2024 budget. Unlike 2023, we cannot expect another grant from the diocese, and we cannot count on windfall gifts. We are striving to cover our St. Brigit budget through our combined “estimates of giving” for 2024.
Loaves and Fishes, St. Brigit’s 2024 funding campaign theme, recalls how Jesus used the gifts brought to him – gifts that his disciples thought would never be enough. After Jesus took, blessed, broke, and gave those gifts back to the community, all were satisfied, with leftovers!
Your St. Brigit’s community leaders – ministry leaders, Bishop’s Committee Community, clergy, paid and unpaid staff – are asking you to spend time praying and discerning what portion of your financial assets – your loaves and fishes – you can offer to fund St. Brigit’s ministry in the world. Ask God to guide your discernment. And know that your offering, combined with all those in our community, will enable the work God is calling us to do together.
An “estimate of giving” form is included with this letter. St. Brigit’s will gather estimates of giving on All Saints Sunday, Nov. 5, when we will ask God to bless those offerings and multiply our good work. You are invited to turn in your estimate online (https://stbrigit.org/ffc-form/), by mail (110 Johnson St., Frederick, CO 80530), or by bringing it to St. Brigit Church on or before Sunday, Nov. 5.
We have also included an FAQ sheet (https://stbrigit.org/faq-ffc/), and if you have further questions or comments, please reach out to [email protected] / 720-208-0280 so that we can provide an answer.
With thanksgiving for your faithfulness from St. Brigit’s Financial Stewardship and Vision Team: Laura Lewis, Sean McGaughey, Jeff Nieusma, Demi Prentiss, Jim Thoming, with Fr. Tim Backus, ex officio
P.S. Remember that growing in giving helps us all grow in faith! Remember the loaves and fishes. Your financial support will help St. Brigit’s impact grow!