Stewardship Corner
Hi, I’m John Schenk,
As a part of May’s Stewardship Month, I want to reprise/revise my stewardship video that I posted last November, which started out by noting what an improbable, unpredictable and unsettling year 2020 was … and then shifted to noting some of the good news that came our way during the year.
- As last year ended, we said farewell to Paula Northwood and had a chance to thank her for her inspiring leadership, her loving care for so many of us and her many years of thoughtful and generous spiritual presence.
- We called our new Lead Minister, Dr. DeWayne Davis. From Day One, DeWayne hit the ground running and quickly began to deliver continued energy to community ministry, social justice, and prophetic preaching.
- In the face of the adversity of the Covid-19 Lockdown, Plymouth adapted well to the challenges of virtual and socially distanced worship and fellowship – calmly, effectively, with good humor and more than a little bit of grace. That said, I can’t wait to be together in person once again!
And just in case you missed last Fall’s video (who am I kidding, I missed it!), I wanted to make sure I shared the results of 2020’s Pledge Campaign – last year we had pledge goals of $1.5 million and thanks to an 11th-hour rally, actual pledge dollars collected for the year snuck just past $1.6 million, thanks to all of you!
Another reminder – exceeding our 2020 goal helped us weather the first shocks of the pandemic without any staff reductions, expand the church’s support of racial justice and climate environmental justice initiatives, and help see Academie Elze, the Spanish immersion preschool, through a difficult spring and summer.
So that’s great news about 2020 and about our congregation’s resilience and generosity, but where are we standing as the current fiscal year is coming to its close?
Well, in many ways about the same spot we were in about a year ago, still largely virtual, still finding ways to show up strong in the community, still building on the promise and positive energy that has been Plymouth’s hallmark for as long as I can remember … and still trying to sneak over the finish line of our 2021 Pledge Campaign.
Through March 2021, we had pledges totaling $1,415,000. Also through March, our actual pledged contributions received were running a little more than $100,000 behind our budgeted goal for the year – frankly, not unusual as historical cashflow trends go, but still, from a Stewardship Campaign standpoint, a little bit nerve-wracking…
So, a final “ask” …
- For those of you who haven’t yet made your pledge to Plymouth, now’s the time.
- For those of you who made your pledge for 2021 but haven’t yet written your check, now’s also the time.
- And for those of you fortunate enough to realize that you made it through the lockdown of 2020 and saw your finances remain healthy and maybe even increase, there’s no better time than now to honor that abundance and share that wealth by increasing your pledge to Plymouth.
So, yeah! Let’s keep it up!
It’s been an honor to have served Plymouth as a co-chair of the Stewardship Committee for these past few years. And I’m super-excited about Plymouth’s continued growth and vitality.
Thank you for your support and your generosity and thank you for keeping the faith!