Dear Friends,

Thanks to your care and generosity S. Bartholomew’s has once again exceeded its annual goal for offerings: $120,000 in 2020. A truly remarkable achievement!

Over the past several years Vestry has generally approved a modest and achievable increase in budgeted givings, which we have then striven to meet, largely through a year-end appeal. But meeting our goal at the end of the year has two disadvantages: one for the giver, the other for the Parish. On the one hand, most of us don’t have a lot of extra money in our wallets in December; on the other, if a large number of donations are deferred till the end of the year, it can adversely affect the Parish’s cash flow.

The prayerful discernment of our annual budget should, ideally, be a matter of individual as well as group discernment, with each of us deciding specifically how we will help meet out projected goal. How much can I commit annually — or, ideally, at regular intervals — to support the life, work, and witness of S. Bart’s? Of course, this is not a binding commitment. If we suffer a financial reverse — or, indeed, a financial windfall! — we are always free to make appropriate adjustments. Nevertheless, the stewardship of our individual gifts, like prayer and regular church attendance, is an integral part of our Christian life and ought to figure in our Rule of Life right through the year. If we believe — as we surely do — that God is the first cause of our being and well-being, then God’s claim upon us must extend to every aspect of our lives, our treasure as much as our talents. (Prayer Book Catechism, p 555.)

To assist in this work of discernment, we are attaching some resources to give a clear sense of how much it costs to keep the Parish open, where our money comes from, and where it goes. If you have any questions, please contact any one of us to ask. When you have decided upon the amount of your financial commitment to the Parish, please indicate the amount and the way in which you plan to give on the attached fillable pledge card and email to our Treasurer, Miles Nagamatsu, at: stbartstoronto@outlook.com.

We appreciate your commitment to S. Bart’s, and rely on the giving of every member of our parish family to ensure the continued success of our mission and ministry in this place, both for ourselves, and for generations yet to come.

Yours faithfully in Christ Jesus,

Fr. Walter Hannam, Vicar
Kevin B. Forrest, Diocesan Administrator
Miles Nagamatsu, Treasurer
Sandy Dawkins, Stewardship Committee Member
Jared Tomlinson, Stewardship Committee Member
Mary Finlay, Stewardship Committee Member

The Pledge Response Card may be downloaded here.

View Frequently Asked Questions here.

Eternal Father, merciful Creator,
whose hand is open wide to satisfy the needs of every living creature:
Make us always thankful for thy loving providence;
and grant that we, remembering the account we must one day render,
may be faithful stewards of thy good gifts;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
– Collect for Stewardship