Annual Giving: Plenty Good Room
In one way or another, most of my pastoral conversations are explorations of the tension between our belief in God’s abundance and the world’s fear that there will not be enough. Sometimes these conversations have to do with money, but, far more often, they focus on other experiences of scarcity—health, peace, security, affirmation, forgiveness, and love.
As people of faith, we believe in God’s goodness and abundance—that in God and from God there will always be enough. “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places,” Jesus assures his disciples in words we often hear at funerals. He does not promise them earthly comfort, worldly riches, or dependable relationships. In fact, he all but guarantees them that they will have none of those luxuries in this life. But the promise God makes to us in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is that, because of God’s love, we can rest secure in the only way that truly matters—our unending relationship with our Creator.
In all the ways that we nurture our spiritual lives, we ask God to instill within us the confidence—the faith—we need to be sustained in this world while we await the fulfilment of God’s promises. Through our spiritual practices, which are enshrined in our Rule of Life—worship weekly, pray daily, learn constantly, serve joyfully, and give generously—we deepen our confidence in God’s goodness so that we can always know that God will always care for us—that, in God, there will always be enough.
One of the spiritual practices we focus on at St. Paul’s is financial stewardship, specifically the intentional act of giving back to God a sacrificial portion of our income in order that we might grow in our gratitude and, thus, in our ability to trust in God’s provision. Like committing to a habit of beginning every day with prayer or writing a note of encouragement to a different person each week or coming to church every Sunday rain or shine, faithful giving is one way that we learn to appreciate God’s generosity and faithfulness.
Do not be mistaken: the yearly practice of sacrificial, proportional, first-fruits giving is not financial magic or spiritual exchange. We do not believe that making a monetary commitment to our church will bring us any more money. In fact, by definition, it will do the opposite. Nor do we believe that generous givers are any less likely to avoid the hardships that life will bring. In fact, it probably makes us more vulnerable to them. But years of faithful giving has shown me and many other committed tithers that by putting God first in a practical, tangible, financial way we learn to appreciate the ways in which God’s goodness is manifest in physical as well as spiritual ways.
This year, our theme is Plenty Good Room—a reminder that, at God’s table and in God’s house, there is always enough room for all of us. In the coming weeks, you will hear me and other leaders in our church talk about the ways in which God’s generosity inspires our generosity. Your generous financial commitment to what God is doing at St. Paul’s helps you be a part of the bigger work of generosity that our parish carries out in God’s name. We are a church that believes in God’s radical and limitless welcome. When you decide make that work a priority in your financial life, you are reminding yourself and sharing with others that welcome.
I invite you to begin making plans for next year. Start by estimating your income for 2027 and figure out what it would mean to give the first 10% of that income to God’s work in the world, whether to St. Paul’s or to any faithful community in which you take part in that work. Why 10%? The tithe is both the biblical standard and the teaching of The Episcopal Church as the portion of our income that represents a faithful sacrifice without becoming a burden. Like learning to sit in silence for an increasing amount of time, some of you may be ready to grow beyond a tithe, while others may need a few years to reach it.
If you are not ready to give a full tithe in 2027, you might be ready to give 5% or 3%. However much you give, I encourage you to make it a dedicated percentage of your income and to commit to growing in that percentage over the next three to five years until you reach the tithe. And don’t forget that St. Paul’s is not the only organization that carries out God’s work in the world. If you are actively engaged in what God is doing in other groups, you should share your first-fruits gift with them as well.
On October 25, everyone at St. Paul’s is invited to Celebration Sunday worship and festive breakfast. At all four services that morning, we will invite households to turn in their estimate of giving for next year. During the catered breakfast, we will experience some of the Plenty Good Room we believe that God has promised all God’s children. We hope everyone will be there. You can RSVP here: https://tinyurl.com/stpaulsfay-celebrationRSVP2026.
I have never been a part of a congregation as faithful and generous as St. Paul’s. As a community of faith, we reflect the faithfulness and generosity of God by sharing the same with each other and with the world. Thank you for all that you have done to make this a place of radical welcome. Your gifts and your participation help us and our neighbors know even more deeply that in God there is always Plenty Good Room.
Yours faithfully,
Evan D. Garner
