When my family and I moved to San Diego last May, we looked for a parish that offered Spanish services, as well as a church that reached out to the community. I am happy to say that at St. Paul’s we found everything we wished for in an active and progressive church.
With Gratitude for The Abundance
By Luis Gonzalez
Good morning. First and foremost, I would like to take this opportunity to say “Thank you.” Thank you for welcoming my family and me with open arms and warm hearts. Luisa and I, along with our children, have had the opportunity to meet many of you these last few weeks at the stewardship gatherings, and it’s been a sincere pleasure. You have been especially kind upon learning of Luisa’s new position and we feel truly blessed to be here. We are thankful for your friendship and generosity, and especially the generosity of the late Cathy Hopper, a woman whose name will forever be etched in our memories.
Her generous contributions will change the lives of the children of Dorcas House, and the children of this church will also benefit as Luisa works to improve the programs made available to our children, youth, and families. Thank you, Cathy; and thank you, friends.
Now let me get back to why I was asked to speak to you today…You may not believe this, but I am Episcopalian because of a postcard. Someone told me it’s actually rare for Episcopal churches to send out postcards to invite new members. And another friend actually thought it was a silly thing to do. But the truth is that I am very thankful for whoever thought a postcard outreach program was a good idea.
That postcard arrived in the mail 11 years ago. We were a young family, looking for a spiritual home. We had just moved to Scotts Valley, California, and among the pile of “new neighbor” mail we received there was a small post card. It was an obnoxious orange color, and it asked a simple yet inquisitive question, “Are you looking for a spiritual home?” We knew nothing of the Episcopal Church then, but we kept that post card and accepted its invitation to attend services the following Sunday.
And let me tell you, my family and I had a most wonderful Sunday. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming, and so we stayed. Little by little we learned what the Episcopal Church was all about and one thing we especially admired was how our little parish was connected to the local diocese and, in turn, to the ministries of the national Episcopal Church, and the international Anglican Communion.
When my family and I moved to San Diego last May, we looked for a parish that offered Spanish services, as well as a church that reached out to the community. I am happy to say that at St. Paul’s we found everything we wished for in an active and progressive church. We found here a church with outreach projects at every level – local, national, and international – and we found many new friends, and we fell in love. We love St. Paul’s because it is a church “For the City,” which means it holds compassion for and fights for the homeless and the disadvantaged, and for those who still struggle after the recent firestorm, and for the gay and lesbian community – in short, because it is a welcoming place and it welcomes us, whoever we are in our journey of faith. And all this is made possible because you all know that a church is not a building or an intangible set of ideals – it is its people. It is we who make this church. We are St. Paul’s and our mission cannot be fulfilled without our energy, and frankly, without our financial support.
Last year the average annual pledge was $2000. If you read the Dean’s letter, you know that just to continue our current programs will take a 16.5% increase in our budget, and so to extend our programs it will require even more. So I want to ask you to dream a little with me for a moment. What if each one of us did our part to see the average pledge increase from $2000 to $2500 a year? $500 may sound like a lot, but it’s also just $1.37 a day. That’s less than a “tall” coffee at Starbucks – and I’m not even going to mention the cost of a non-fat latte Frappuccino! There is so much need out there, but imagine how much more this church and we the people could do to help.
We will continue to support Uptown and Alpha Project and ECS as they feed, clothe, and shelter the homeless of this city. But what if we also added a program to reach out directly to the homeless who live not too far from these walls?
We will continue to support Dorcas House as they offer a home to the children of Tijuana. But what if we also had enough money to fix their crumbling building? And what if we added scholarships to help those kids through college?
We will continue supporting our forums and Christian formation programs, but what if the nursery were consistently open so that young families were actually encouraged to attend these programs and special events?
Which program would you love to support, expand, or start? For which ministry do you have a “what if?”
In closing, I want to thank you again for your welcoming friendship, and for allowing me these few minutes. My family and I were welcomed here like old friends, like family. We love St. Paul’s and we love the work it does as the church “For the City.” We have prayed about stewardship and we will give generously to St. Paul’s, with gratitude for the abundance with which God has blessed us. +.