Dear People of St. James’,
Have you ever taken a moment to read and think about the history of St. James’? It may come as no surprise to you that St. James’ tells its history in a peculiar way. While your typical A Brief History of St. So-and-So’s Episcopal Church often resembles the narratives of Kings or Chronicles, regaling the reader with a series of stories of what this priest or that senior warden accomplished or failed to do in the life of the church community, the Brief History of St. James’ is a story structured around buildings. Sure, great leaders are mentioned here and there. However, the story of the journey of St. James’ from 1941 to 2007 is told as the story of a people moving from building to building, always committed to the service of the gospel in east Austin, but seeking a place to set down deep roots and to extend supportive and fruitful branches of welcome to a diverse and changing community.
As we come back together out of the most recent pandemic surge, I am finding a new appreciation of this physical place that brings an always new and unexpected community together through love and holds us in joy. Being in the house, in the sanctuary with you, feels meet and right and joyous. Welcoming neighbors back into the Founders Hall offers new opportunities to connect more deeply. Celebrating eucharist in the grove with families spread out on their blankets and then getting to head to the playground – well, that feels right. How good it is to be planted at 1941 Webberville!
And yet, this pandemic has taught us that being displaced from that good ground and scattered for a time cannot fully uproot us, because we are a community rooted in love. We are rooted in relationship brought about by God’s unpredictable Spirit, and that spirit of love, that longing our hearts have for each other, has kept us connected during this time. And not only has it kept us connected, it has allowed us to continue to extend our branches to make space for the stranger and the neighbor. You’d be amazed at how many newcomers have joined us during this pandemic time!
As we begin our season of stewardship (October 10 – November 7), we have chosen the tree with its roots and branches reaching out as an icon that emerges from that particular history of St. James’ and speaks to our present and future call.
- We seek to extend our roots deeply into the gospel of love and into this good east Austin soil, soaked through with a complex history and present. As stewards, we are called to investment, not only in physical spaces, but in the Christian formation and discipleship of people of all ages so that they can be nourished by God’s good news and know God’s love.
- We seek to build up the resilience and strength of the trunk of community and relationships that supports the widening branches of welcome for all. As stewards, we are called to give of our capacity for relationship, building spaces and groups that can provide a way into community for those who are seeking to know God and neighbor.
- We seek to see the leaves of beauty, diversity, healing, joy, and reconciliation flourish, as a sign of the presence of God. As stewards, we are called to offer our creativity to find new ways to engage our neighbors in God’s mission of liberation and reconciliation and to offer beauty and art that speaks of God.
The ways in which we give ourselves to this work as the people of St. James’ will help us write the story of this new time, a story of a diverse people called to a transformative mission here in this place and wherever we may be.
Financially, 2022 is going to be a stretch year for us, because we can anticipate the high expectations of “pre-covid normalcy” combined with more strange attendance patterns. However, there is reason for great hopefulness. We have seen new members join us at every service time, and they are enthusiastic! Every single Sunday brings new visitors to our door. And the historic St. James’ community has stayed connected.
We believe that if we can stretch and bring in $668,000 in pledges for 2022, we will be able to continue to invest in ministries for all ages, to bring back our music program strong in spite of COVID, to keep our commitments to pay just and competitive wages to our staff (keeping up with inflation), to strengthen and stabilize our 501(c)3 Welcome Table, and to plan for the future by taking care of some of our past debts, physical and financial.
If your financial situation has changed over the last year for the worse, you are not alone, and I would appeal to you to pledge what you can, but please pledge. If you are able to help us stretch this year so that we can widen the embrace of St. James’ to those who are seeking us out and finding us, that would be a great gift. The math-oriented among us sat down to think about what a good stretch could mean, and we came up with the number 12%. Break out your calculator and try it out based on your current pledge. Could you make it work? Never pledged before? Give it some thought as we share more about what it means to the St. James’ community.
Are you ready to pledge? You can pledge online HERE.
Rev. Eileen
