Pentecost XIX - Skip Winsdor

Planting Seeds of Hope
“Why did you go into the ministry?” Over the past several decades of my ordained ministry this question has been posed to me many times. The short answer, that since I was previously a banker, I said, “I wanted to be a full service banker.” The longer answer is that my grandmother, Gertrude or “Gertie” believed in me. She planted seeds of hope in me that I could be ordained.

This morning I would like to speak with you about planting seeds of hope. Like the seeds scattered on fertile ground, our gestures of generosity, our actions on behalf of others, our willingness to listen to other people’s dreams, and our desire to help others grow in the Christian faith and life bear fruit far beyond the present into the future.

As members of Christ Church, we know that this place and this community has been fertile ground for people to be generous, for people to help enable and heal others, for people to listen to other people’s dreams and visions, for people to instruct and teach others by word and example what it means to be a follower of Christ, and for countless others to be touched by the power of the Holy Spirit by merely walking through our church doors to see the beauty of this chancel and of our beautiful stained glass cross.

At this time of year when we prayerfully consider what financial pledge to make to Christ Church for 2013, I invite us to consider pledging as planting – planting seeds of hope.

My grandmother, Gertie, held the hope for me that I could become a minister. When I had little money and held two jobs while starting seminary: one at the Harvard Coop Bookstore and the other in the kitchen of Episcopal Theological School, she paid for my seminary tuition. By her generosity, she held the hope for me that my call to ministry was a real one.

The same holds true in our church. When we make a financial commitment to Christ Church, we are holding the hope not only for ourselves but also for countless others. By believing in the Christ Church community we:

• Listen to other people’s dreams. To dreams the good dreams of God for reconciliation, tolerance and peace.
• Help and assist others, both young and old, to be the people God calls us to be. As the prophet, Micah, proclaims, “What does God require of us: To do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
• Create a place and a space where families find teachers and mentors, who by their word and example instruct our children and youth to grow into the full stature of Christ.
• Bring the Good News of Christ to the least, the last, the last and the lonely through clothing to the Long Island Shelter, through hearty and healthy lunches with the Monday Lunch Ministry, through our commitment to the Millennium Development goals at the school in Lazile, Haiti.
• Maintain a beautiful church building as a place of prayer and worship but also as a resource to the wider community whether it be a pre-school like First Bridge, an outreach program like AA, or a meeting space for the Needham High School or a diocesan event like Episcopal City Mission.
• Serve as a home to us where we can meet for fellowship, knitting, lunches, dinners, breakfasts, or to have fun for Halloween or Christmas.
• Stand as a visible symbol to the Needham community that there is a place with a history and a tradition that anchors all who come here in the Episcopal and Anglican ethos where liturgy and music is practiced with piety and professionalism.

All this and more happens; and it only happens through our financial pledges that plants seeds of hope both for today and for tomorrow. And where do our dollars go to plant seeds of hope? Let me tell you:

Our 2012 church budget is $536,000. Our pledges are $356,000 (66%). Our endowment income where we draw no more than 5% is $67,000 (12.5%). Rentals for the church, rectory, and the library parking lot are $88,000 (16.5%). And fundraising and gifts is $25,000 (5%).

Expenses for ministry and mission for a balanced 2012 budget is $536,000. Salaries for staff (two f/t clergy, parish administrator, p/t director of music, p/t facilities manager, organist, and p/t bookkeeper) are $317,000 (59%). Our mandated diocesan assessment to the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts is $65,000 (12%). Annual maintenance, repairs, and upkeep on all church owned property is $102,000 (19%). Operations such as office, technology, and altar guild & worship plus educational program materials for education add up to $32,000 (7%). And outreach through Community Concerns, Circle of Hope, and the Millennium Goals is $18,000 (3%).

The 2012 budget represents the support of the infrastructure of Christ Church that is comprised of the church buildings, the church staff, the diocesan assessment, and the operations, programs, and outreach of the church. The importance of maintaining and sustaining the infrastructure of Christ Church is that it allows it to be a place for ministry and mission to occur:

1. Education and formation: Children’s Chapel, Church School, Youth Group, Adult Forums and Adult Bible Study.
2. Witnessing and testifying: A good example is Katie McCracken’s testimony of her recent visit to Haiti in this month’s Visitor.
3. Faith and practice: Living in a safe Christian community where mutual pastoral and healing support happens every day while allowing members to worship together every Sunday enjoying our beautiful choir and hearing and receiving both God’s holy word and receiving the Spirit of Christ through the Eucharist.

This time of year when we make decisions about our financial support of Christ Church consider all that we do throughout the rest of the year from December through September: We see in the rest of the year the outgrowth of the planting of these seeds of hope; but now during the pledging season we are invited and called to plant seeds of hope through our financial support of Christ Church.

Many good things are happening because of this growth:

• The addition of two talented choir section leaders in Mark and Chris
• Circle of Hope reached over $1 million in clothing given out – in 4 years
• The Cuttyhunk Men and Women’s Spirituality are most active in years
• Renewed partnership with St. Luc Haiti through the MDG’s
• Community Concerns making a difference to others thru grants
• Shelter Cooking (MANNA) involves over 70 volunteers
• PRM, LEM’s, Knitting Ministry, Intercessors, Healing Ministry active daily
• Wednesday Morning Bible Study the largest class ever
• Children’s Chapel, Church School and youth under Lynn and Kim
• Property Committee: Drainage, paint HND, refurbish chapel, etc.

The infrastructure, the church, is on sound footing because of our stewardship and financial commitment through pledges. Without you none of the ministries I just mentioned would occur. You have planted seeds of hope that are being harvested every day.

But more planting and more seeds are needed to sustain and enhance our church infrastructure. Here is my invitation to you as your rector:

1. Increasing operations revenues for office equipment, communications and technology
2. Building repairs, deferred maintenance, rising fuel, and unexpected property needs require more funds over time
3. Increase outreach of Christ Church from 3% to 5%
4. Prepare for rising ancillary staff expenses: as mandated by the diocese for pension and health insurance
5. Enhancing education and fellowship programs with current books, curriculum and entertainment
6. Creating a reserve fund of 5% for emergencies in next year’s budget

To do these things and to maintain the harvest of Christ Church ministries, we need to consider increasing our pledges by 10%. Such an increase of almost $35,600 to nearly $400,000 in pledges for 2013 will allow Christ Church to meet all of its fixed costs needs, increase our outreach, and allow for a needed rainy day fund to account for emergencies.

To see the outgrowth of our vibrant and vital ministries in the future, we must consider how we plant now and how much we will plant. As a bishop of the Episcopal Church once said, “Money is a spiritual issue and how much we give is a faith statement.”

My grandmother, Gertie, loved the Gospel text for today. No. She did not like the first part. What she loved was the last part especially the last verse in Mark 10:16 about being a little child coming to Jesus.

She liked it because of the comfort it gave her. You see, in her lifetime, she lost two husbands and survived all three of her children.

For years she looked for meaning about why these tragedies happened. No words, no book, helped her until she turned to this passage in the Bible. Nothing rational could explain her losses only a simple childlike faith in God helped her.

My grandmother believed that somehow those she loved but saw no longer rested in the loving arms of the Creator. “Only as a little child will I enter the kingdom of God,” she said. This was her faith. This was her hope. She held the hope for me when I first went to seminary. It is a hope I carry now because of her.

Christianity is all about hope. In the prayer book’s Catechism, it says that, “Christian hope is to live with confidence in the newness and fullness of life, and to await the coming of Christ in glory and the completion of God’s purpose in the world” (p. 861).

You and I are called to be planters of hope by supporting Christ Church both for us and for others. During this season of sowing, let us be generous, sowing seeds of hope so that all people will come to know the loving and redeeming power of God through Jesus Christ our Lord at witnessed here at Christ Church.

Let us pray:

Almighty and most gracious God, we give you thanks for our community of Christ Church. Strengthen and guide us in all things knowing that through the power of your Holy Spirit all things are possible. All this we ask in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.