A Welcome Letter to the Season of Giving Thanks, St. Julian's Fall Stewardship Program:
October 20, 2025
Dear St. Julian's Family:
Last Sunday, October 19th, St. Julian's began our 5-week Fall Stewardship Program called the "Season of Giving Thanks". This title is rooted in our profound belief that the choice to share from our abundance to further God's mission and ministry in and through St. Julian's begins in gratitude. And, when we speak of our abundance, we are thinking of things like our health, our church, our vocations/professions, our homes, our life-giving relationships, and, most of all, God's unconditional love and faithful provision that makes all of life possible. In this season, we hope you will intentionally reflect on and revel in your own God-given blessings. Let them fill you up with thanksgiving! And, then, consider how that gratitude might overflow into making a specific commitment of prayer, time, talent, and financial resources to further God in Christ’s mission and ministry in and through St. Julian's for the coming year.
Throughout the season, you will hear what we are calling "impact reports" from various participants in our community about how God is filling their lives up through the family of faith we share, and, further, how the choice to share from their own abundance to support our shared ministry leads to their own spiritual growth and wellbeing. Additionally, there will be opportunities during “Open Space” each week to reflect on gratitude and giving. And, we hope these experiences, among other offerings during the season, will lead us to consider, again, how we might allow the love of God in our lives to overflow in acts of generosity toward our church and those in need beyond our own walls.
The "Season of Giving Thanks" will culminate with two events. The first is a preview of the 2026 Budget during regular adult Christian Education, Nov 9th at 10:20 AM. Please plan to join us in-person or on Zoom to hear how the 2026 budget is shaping up and how that might inform your own giving. The second are our annual In-Gathering Services (regular times) with a Thanksgiving Meal between them on Sunday, Nov 16th. The meal is an opportunity for fellowship and to give thanks for the generosity represented in the pledges we are each making (about 10:10 AM). Please plan to remain or come early for the meal depending on which service you regularly attend. As in the past, we will provide the main course (breakfast tacos) and invite you to bring a brunch-y side to share (buffet will be in the gathering room).
For those new to St. Julian’s, In-Gathering Sunday (again, Nov 16th, this year) is the day on which we make our pledge of prayer, time, talent and financial resources for the year to come during and as an act of worship (if not completed/turned in before that date). The purpose of setting aside a particular Sunday for “gathering in” our pledges serves two purposes. First, it provides a timeline for each of us to complete and turn in our pledge. I know we all lead busy lives, and we hope a specific date is simply a helpful reminder to complete this important task. Further, a specific date for receiving pledges allows our leadership the time needed to complete a final operating budget for 2026, as the greatest income driver for that budget is, indeed, our pledges. Second, we believe that it is important to mark and celebrate together the sacrificial gifts being made by our community and commend them in prayer and worship to God’s work through St. Julian’s…for the very life of the world!
Having said that, you are very welcome to turn your pledge in any time before Nov 16th, as is most convenient for you and yours (many already are). All pledges completed before Nov 16th will be included at the altar during both In-Gatherings Services. Pledge cards can be completed in one of two ways. They can be completed online (click here or see link below). Or, you are welcome to take a “paper” pledge card from church or print one (click here or see link below), complete it by hand, and place it in the wooden box on the table in the narthex (entryway) before the 16th or at the altar during our In-Gathering Services. Paper pledge cards can also be mailed to church. Though most now use the online option, we know there is something edifying about completing and signing a card by hand, and it is entirely at your discretion.
Our first year in our new church has been full of blessings. We have welcomed well over a hundred visitors in worship and our Average Sunday Attendance has grown by nearly 80%. In February at Diocesan Council in the Woodlands, TX, St. Julian's will fulfill one of our longest standing goals by officially becoming a self-sustaining parish of the Diocese of Texas, and we will be the first church plant to do so in several generations. This will be a significant celebration at Diocesan Council to which all will be invited (more info to follow). And, we have received this growth while also developing the institutional and programatic life of our parish and while remaining true to our purpose, vision and mission. St. Julian's is no longer a "little" Episcopal Church but among the fastest growing Episcopal congregations in the nation, including, having one of the largest Youth Programs in our convocation. We are also preparing a record number of adults and youth for Confirmation/Reception at our coming Bishop's Visit on Saturday, Nov 8th at 5 PM. Finally, following a year in which we had a record number of people attend our Women's, Men's and Youth Retreats, we are preparing for our first Parish Renewal Weekend, called Porchlight, this coming weekend, Oct 17-19, with nearly 100 registrations so far, and we hope each of you will be with us (click here for the registration form). What a glorious, God-led year we have shared!
And, though by God’s grace we continue to flourish as a family of faith, we are more dependent on the financial generosity of our community than we have ever previously been. Though several factors impact this, the largest is our lovely new home. Our new church is clearly allowing us to grow numerically and spiritually more and more into the people and place God has created us to be. However, the new church and specifically our stewardship of the building and land is significantly more expensive than in our previous church. We have new cost centers like keeping our 9-acres landscaped, and previous cost centers are increasing like providing electricity and water to a building that is twice as big as our previous space and getting significantly more use. We have also added professional security to our Sunday services and large gatherings at a cost of nearly $25,000 annually. With the Rev. Demery Bader-Saye joining us in July, we have also added a second priest to our staff and hope to increase her hours in the coming year. In order to accomplish all that sits before us and provide an annual cost of living increase for our hard-working staff, we will need to see an overall increase in giving of about $80,000 year over year.
There are both great opportunities and challenges that stand before us. And, we faithfully believe, with God's ongoing help and the sacrificial commitment of our community, that we can and will continue to grow in number, spiritual depth, and financial wellness. We can and will continue to be a servant leader in the community and world around us, including, in our partnerships with Foundation Communities and the Episcopal Diocese of Navajoland. And, we can and will continue to be a bright light of hope and profound expression of God’s love for our own lives, our family’s lives, and our neighbors.
Attached below is an "FAQ" about stewardship and the “Season of Giving Thanks” at St. Julian's. It includes helpful information about things like the anchors for Christian stewardship and facts like our average annual pledge, as a place to consider your own commitment for 2026. We hope it is a helpful resource. Additionally, attached below are links to our online and “paper” Pledge Cards, which we hope you will, again, submit at or before our In-Gathering Services on Sunday, November 16th. It remains our firm belief that if everyone participates, which will look differently for each of us, we will receive exactly what we need to do exactly what God is calling us to accomplish in the year to come.
Thank you for your time and consideration. We are so grateful for our shared life and ministry and so thankful for all the prayer, time, talent, and financial resources you have already so generously given. We are the beloved family of faith we have become, now in our new church home, in large measure through your ongoing and profound generosity. If you have any questions about the “Season of Giving Thanks” at St. Julian's or your own giving, please feel free to contact either of us. We hope this reaches you and yours as well as possible.
Peace and Warm Friendship,
The Rev. Miles R. Brandon, II, Vicar
with
Steve Read, Stewardship Ministry Chair