Someone recently asked me to define Stewardship in the Church. I read an article recently which had a great definition that I like, “Stewardship is about using the gifts God gives us to do the work God calls us to do”. That seems simple but very precise.

Our 2019 Stewardship Campaign was highlighted by an excellent Annual Meeting, at which there was some deep and personal sharing’s from the heart about what Good Shepherd means to us and our Good Shepherd family. The results speak for themselves as people opened their hearts and their treasure in a very successful Supplemental Stewardship Campaign.

As a review, we have received 155 Pledges for a total of $442,933 or $2858 per Pledge. Our original goal for the Stewardship Campaign was 175 Pledges for $437,500 or $2500 per Pledge. As you can see from the numbers, we are under the number of Pledges we had hoped to receive but with the Supplemental Stewardship Campaign, we are significantly higher on our average per pledge.

As we have shared, we were able to retain our entire staff in place for the future operation and growth of Good Shepherd. Unfortunately, to balance the budget we reduced our Diocesan pledge from 2018 and cut our Regional Pledge in half. I share this with you, to let you know that we are still accepting Pledges from Newcomers and members of Good Shepherd that would like to supplement their original pledge or make a new pledge for 2019. Pledge cards are available on the Newcomers table as you enter the Church.