February 8, 2026

I want to start by saying that if you had told me a year ago—maybe even six months ago—that I would be standing in front of you, asking you to consider increasing your annual giving, I would have told you that you are crazy. Number one, because I hate speaking in front of people, and number two, because I’ve had plenty of my own unpleasant experiences of churches asking for money.

So, I can truly say that I am here because of the genuine care that St. B’s takes with its finances. I believe in our budget. Something I didn’t expect to feel so strongly about when I joined the vestry two years ago. But it’s true: I believe in the good work that our budget represents, the generosity that it reflects, and the intention that goes into making sure that we are wise with our resources.

Last month the vestry convened for a “budget summit.” Not being a numbers person and barely understanding our own personal budget, I was more excited about spending the day with my vestry friends than the talk of finances. However, the budget conversation was actually interesting, engaging, and compelling. Again, the way that we steward our finances at St. B’s is thoughtful and generous. And the way that we go to great lengths to avoid guilting and manipulating our parish to give is refreshing.

I left feeling full of gratitude for our treasurer. David is wise, prayerful, and discerning. I also truly believe that he could explain our complex budget to a five-year-old; that’s really how good he is at making it accessible. And also for Charity, our parish administrator, who works incredibly hard to not only keep our finances organized, but also feels the weight of our budget, works to make ends meet, and brings her heart to caring for our resources.

But I also left our budget summit with a bit of heaviness. The reality is that there is an increase in our 2026 budget and that we need giving to increase as well. Our budget increases are due to similar things that we experience in our personal budgets: inflation, rising costs of health insurance, and maintaining our facilities. I processed the reality that if giving doesn’t increase, we will end 2026 with a deficit that can be absorbed initially, but is in no way sustainable.

I then thought about my own giving and realized that our family had not increased our pledge amount in several years and that, really, that isn’t best practice, as budgets typically increase annually. We decided to increase our pledge by 12.8%—that is the difference between last year’s giving and this year’s budget. A significant portion of our vestry, along with our rector and treasurer, have committed to doing the same.

And today, I’m inviting you to join us in taking care of our church’s financial health. I’m asking you to consider increasing your pledge or annual giving by 12.8% to ensure that we can continue the good work that is St. B’s. I also feel a sense of responsibility to this incoming vestry cohort, as they will be the ones potentially faced with the stress of a budget deficit and will be forced to navigate challenging decisions as a result.

I felt so strongly after our budget summit that if our parish could see the behind-the-scenes work and prayer that goes into the financial life of St. B’s and understand the present need, that they would show up. I believe that we are a community that responds to need and desires to fully support our staff, ministries, and the partnerships that we give to. Please consider this step and know that our rector, staff, treasurer, and vestry steward your generosity with intention and care.