We welcome pledges at any time throughout the year, but we especially encourage those who have not yet submitted a pledge to St. Nicholas for 2011 to do so as soon as possible. You’ll find the pledge form at the church at this link [PDF file: PledgeCard]
In the Episcopal Church, and specifically at St. Nicholas, we pledge to give some of our treasure to St. Nicholas Church. Pledging allows your Bishop’s Committee to accurately budget for programming, staffing, worship, outreach and facilities upkeep each year. But just as importantly, pledging allows each of us to reflect upon the ways in which we choose to share some of what we’ve been given with others. Pledging is a sign of our commitment, not only to St. Nicholas, but to each other as well. When we prayerfully fill out a pledge card, we are saying that we realize the church indeed belongs to us, the people of St. Nicholas, but more importantly that we understand it belongs to everyone. We are sending a message that we wish to be part of helping St. Nicholas continue its tradition of welcoming all.
As much as we’d love to write simply about our mission and ministries, the reality is it takes financial resources to keep our doors open and our lights shining brightly to and for all. Our new building is a blessing, but it requires maintenance. Our instruments – organ, pianos and human voices – assist us in joyful and meaningful worship, but they require tuning and printed music. Our Food Pantry serves countless guests, but the gas and electric bills must be paid so that we have a place in which they may choose their items.
We ask that you prayerfully consider making a pledge to St. Nicholas for 2011. The amount you pledge is not nearly as important as the fact that you choose to pledge as a sign of your commitment to the mission, ministries and realities of St. Nicholas. Click here to get your pledge card and either return it by mail or place it in the offering on Saturday or Sunday.
An additional way to support St Nicholas is to sign up with Dominick’s Grocery Stores to donate a percentage of your purchases to the church if you get one of their Fresh Values cards. This is especially valuable if you purchase healthy non-perishable food items for donations to our Food Pantry on Sundays (or drop off any time the church is open for a meeting).
Yet another way to support St Nicholas is to use the Amazon Search box on each page to purchase books, DVDs, kitchenware, or electronics. This can be especially handy at “St Nicholastide” or Christmas – there are all kinds of things available on Amazon.com that would make great gifts for friends and family. Did you know that there are chocolate candy St Nicholases, and musical snowglobe St Nicholases?
Of course, the most important way to help support St Nicholas and the work that our community does (including the support groups, the little Bulgarian school, and the food pantry volunteers) is simply to be here with us, and to tell a friend.
