The Stewardship Campaign at Saint Michael & All Angels begins in mid-October.  You should receive a letter announcing the campaign and a pledge card in the mail at that time.  Stewardship Sunday will be on October 19, 2008, at which time we will welcome The Reverend Dan Matthews, Rector Emeritus of Trinity Church, Wall Street, as our guest speaker.  Commitment Sunday will be on November 2, 2008.  Parishioners are encouraged to return their pledge cards by this date so that the Vestry’s Finance Committee will have the information it needs to set our 2009 operating budget.  However, you can make a pledge at any time.

We are seeking to raise $6 million dollars in this year’s Stewardship Campaign. The Vestry has set this target in order to enable Saint Michael to continue and expand its rich variety of programs. The Stewardship Campaign yielded pledges of approximately $5.2 million last year. We are hoping to raise approximately 15% more this year.

The Vestry has decided to raise the target for the Stewardship Campaign in order to serve the growing needs of our congregation as well as to keep pace with higher operating and administrative costs. Our new rector has added significantly to the core staff that was in place when he arrived, consistent with the robust strategic plan that he inherited. We have hired four new priests to minister to our congregation in the essential areas of Pastoral Care (Patty Willett), Mission and Outreach (Kevin Huddleston), College and Young Adult Ministries (Nate Bostian) and Discipleship and Engagement (Christie Olsen). In addition, we have hired or are planning to hire staff that will be with us for a full year in 2009, including a Liturgical Assistant, two new staff members in Accounting and Finance, a director of development and a director for a new Children’s music initiative. Our desire to expand in these key areas requires that we raise our Stewardship target. Our budget must also anticipate inflation in the operating and administrative costs of our parish, as well as the expected costs of the programs offered in our various ministries. With the addition of new clergy and staff, we will need to plan for growth in a number of parish programs within our church and in the outside community.

At a very basic level, the Stewardship Campaign is about providing the means for the church to accomplish, on a daily basis, the work of Christ in the world. Capital campaigns are intended to supplement Stewardship by focusing on long-term goals that are beyond the reach of our regular budget. Specifically, the Stewardship Campaign is an annual event that provides the funding needed to meet our operating budget. It pays for everything we need to run the church – e.g., worship services, Sunday school for children and adults, operations and maintenance of the building, staff salaries, mission and outreach, music programs, pastoral care, etc. Whether or not you have contributed to a recent capital campaign, we ask that you consider setting aside a portion of your “first fruits” to support the daily life and work of the church. Capital campaigns are more infrequent events focused on achieving long-term objectives such as the acquisition of additional properties and/or the renovation or expansion of the church. Gifts to the Capital Campaign are best viewed as supplementing annual Stewardship pledges. We recently completed the “Expanding our Faith” Capital Campaign in August 2008, although we are still collecting pledged funds.

The amount of your pledge is entirely up to you, knowing that God asks only that we give back a portion of the bounty he has provided to us. The gold standard for Christian giving has been the tithe, or 10% of income. If, however, you are not ready for that level of giving, we encourage you to pledge a lower percentage and consider increasing your pledge each year. The Bible teaches us that God richly blesses those who give faithfully and with a cheerful heart. We only ask that you prayerfully consider what level of giving is right for you and your family. In setting your goals for Stewardship giving, it may be helpful to consider the “stair-step” graphic set forth below, which illustrates how Stewardship pledges break down in our parish. This may assist you in understanding how others have responded to the needs of the church, and in planning your own present and future gifts.

Proportional giving is based on the premise that the “first fruits” are to be given back to God as a faithful response to what God has provided us. This involves setting aside a tithe, or other appropriate portion of our income, before other needs or priorities are considered. We ask each parishioner to consider making an annual pledge in proportion to income. Give joyfully and from the heart, considering the wisdom from Psalm 116, “How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.”

Giving Percentage Table

Annual Salaries	1/2%	1%	3%	5%	6%	7%	8%	9%	10%
$150,000	$750	$1,500	$4,500	$7,500	$9,000	$10,500	$12,000	$13,500	$15,000
$120,000	$600	$1,200	$3,600	$6,000	$7,200	$8,400	$9,600	$10,800	$12,000
$100,000	$500	$1,000	$3,000	$5,000	$6,000	$7,000	$8,000	$9,000	$10,000
$80,000	$400	$800	$2,400	$4,000	$4,800	$5,600	$6,400	$7,200	$8,000
$50,000	$250	$500	$1,500	$2,500	$3,000	$3,500	$4,000	$4,500	$5,000
$30,000	$150	$300	$900	$1,500	$1,800	$2,100	$2,400	$2,700	$3,000

You can make a pledge to Saint Michael in several different ways. You can fill out the pledge card mailed to you in October and return it to the church. Or, you can make a pledge online at www.saintmichael.org/stewardship. You can also make a pledge by telephone. If you would like to make a telephone pledge, please Karen Linn in the Stewardship office at (214) 365-3557. If mailing in a pledge, please send it in the return envelope provided or please mail it to: Saint Michael and All Angels Attention: Karen Linn 8011 Douglas Avenue Dallas, Texas 75225

Saint Michaels accepts Stewardship contributions in the form of cash, check, credit card and stock gifts. Many parishioners find that it is easy to pay by monthly credit card debits or by making periodic payments through online banking. Other parishioners pay by cash or check using offering envelopes provided by the church. When you complete your pledge card, please indicate your preferred method of payment or contact Karen Linn in the Stewardship office at (214) 365-3557 to discuss available alternatives.

If you would like to obtain offering envelopes, please check the appropriate box on the pledge card or online pledge form or request them by calling Karen Linn in the Stewardship office at (214) 365-3557. The church will send the offering envelopes once you submit your pledge.

Donations through the collection plate are of course welcome. The amount of these donations, however, varies significantly from week to week, and they do not provide the predictability needed to meet the church’s obligations. Imagine that you were trying to plan your family’s budget, but did know how much income you could count on for the remainder of the year? On the other hand, annual pledges provide a solid basis for the church to plan its operating budget, and almost 80% percent of our annual budget is currently derived from pledges. Only 1% of our church income comes from plate offerings. It is also important to remember that it has been the tradition at Saint Michael to take all the “plate money” from Christmas and Easter and divide it to support local, national and international outreach programs. Therefore, no funds received from plate on these important dates, or other cash plate offerings designated for outreach, go toward funding church operations.

We would request that you consider making your pledge as an unrestricted gift. Pledges are donations that are used to fund the operating budget of Saint Michael. The budget is set each year by the Finance Committee, and approved by the Vestry, who are elected by parish members as their representatives. This approach allows the leadership of the church to ensure that all areas of need receive support each year, and not just particular projects. If every parishioner restricted how his or her pledge could be used, the church could face serious difficulties in meeting its basic costs. However, if you decide to make a restricted gift, the church will honor your request.

A pledge is an estimate to facilitate church budgeting, and is not a legal obligation. If you experience financial or other difficulties (such as a job loss, serious illness or other unexpected events) and find that you are not able to satisfy your pledge, we ask only that you notify Karen Linn in the Stewardship Office at (214) 365-3557.

In last year’s Stewardship Campaign, approximately 51% of our parishioners made a pledge to Saint Michael. For the past 10 years, participation has ranged from approximately 45% to 50%. Just think what we could do if we had 100% participation, regardless of the amount! There is both an opportunity and a need this year to increase participation significantly. The Stewardship Committee is challenging the congregation at Saint Michael and All Angels to fully invest in God’s work through our beloved parish.

The leadership of Saint Michael is committed to being good stewards of your financial contributions.  Careful consideration is given each year to the allocation of operating funds to serve the needs of our parish.  During the last year, the largest areas of operating expenditures were as follows:

 

Administration and Church Operation	19%
Mission & Outreach Programs and Support	19%
Children, Family, Youth and Child Development	19%
Ministry, Music, and Worship	16%
Operations and Facilities	13%
Adult Formation Ministries, Discipleship, and Engagement	6%
Pastoral Care	4%
Communications (Print and Electronic)	4%
Total	100%

Funds used by our Mission and Outreach programs come from a variety of sources. Only a portion of these funds comes from the annual budget, or your Stewardship pledges (see above). Other funds – such as donations for youth and adult mission trips – are raised through fundraising efforts that are not included in the annual budget. It is important to note that your Stewardship dollars provide the platform for a multitude of Outreach activities that would not be possible without the inspiration and support of the church. In total, we estimate that our parish donated $2,000,000 for Mission, Outreach, Diocesan and National church activities in 2007.