A note about stewardship, our budget, and our mission

In the September edition of Tidings, members of the Planning Committee provided an overview of the steps taken to foster parish growth over the past year. These plans were approved by the vestry.  We believe there are exciting opportunities for our church to grow and become more vibrant within the next few years. 

However, in order to implement the program, we would need to fund several new initiatives above and beyond our current budget. The most expensive would be (1) a part-time parish administrator and (2) a part-time (or full-time) youth minister.  A part-time parish administrator would permit Victoria to spend more of her time doing what she does best – communicating the good news of the gospel to the wider community, offering Christian education both here and in other places, and providing support to parishioners. At present, Victoria is required to spend too much time handling administrative chores. Although she is able to provide exemplary sermons and stimulating educational offerings nevertheless, with all that she had to offer, we would like to be able to free her from some of the more mundane office tasks to use her talents in the larger community with an eye toward parish growth.  A youth minister could help us to provide stimulating and exciting programs for our younger members that would supplement and enhance the excellent program already in place for our children.

In the next several weeks, you will be hearing about stewardship. Although this is a difficult year financially, your vestry urges you to give special consideration to the long-term needs of this parish as you consider your pledge to Saint Saviour’s Church for 2009.

David Rasmussen, Senior Warden

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What is stewardship? 

Stewardship is everything that happens after baptism.  It’s how thankful we are to God for the gift of life and for all the richness of life.  It’s how generous we are with our tangible resources (including money), with our time and intelligence, with our emotional availability and empathy.   It’s how well we take care of the earth and all of the earth’s inhabitants, present and future. It’s our receptiveness to learning new habits of life, habits that connect us more intentionally and more consistently with other people and with other living things.  It’s how seriously we take the call to allow God to be the most important reality in our lives – a living reality that shapes how we live our ordinary, daily lives, a living reality that shapes the decisions we make, the conversations we have, the actions we do and do not take.  Stewardship is the life of faith.  Try to be a responsible and creative steward of all that God has lent to you to enjoy and control in this life. Victoria

The parish’s fall stewardship materials will be mailed in early November.
 Please look for them in your mailbox and return the enclosed card promptly.

Giving stock to Saint Saviour’s Church

Please consider giving stock to Saint Saviour’s. You do not need to sell the stock before you make the gift. Once it is received, we sell it immediately and put the cash into our account.

There are tax issues to consider. You must first note whether the stock you are considering giving has been in you possession short-term (one year or less) or long-term (over one year). Then consider its fair market value (FMV) – the amount you would receive from the sale of the stock on the day you give it to Saint Saviour’s. With stock held short-term, you can claim the FMV, less the amount it has appreciated since you purchased it, as a charitable contribution (your cost basis). In other words, a stock that you purchased for $1,000 that has increased in value to $1,200 on the day of your donation would result in a $1,000 deduction on your taxes. With stock held long-term, you can deduct the FMV of the stock on the day of your contribution. The stock you purchased for $1,000 that is now worth $1,200 can be donated resulting in a $1,200 deduction.

The main decision to be made is whether to sell the stock and donate the proceeds or whether to donate the stock itself. By selling the stock first, your gain (or loss) will count as income (or loss) and will affect your total taxes. By donating the stock, you do not recognize any income (or loss).

Saint Saviour’s has an account at Merrill Lynch in Stamford. All you need to do is notify your broker that you would like to make a donation to the church, and the stock can be wire-transferred to our account. Our account number is 877-04121. Please notify our account manager, Linda Cleveland (telephone: 356-8739). She is ready to help any parishioner interested in making a stock donation to the church. Please also notify the parish Treasurer of your gift so we can be sure to follow through from our end. (Sometimes, institutions that execute wire transfers of stock do not identify the parishioner who initiated the transaction. We would like to thank you when you make a gift of stock and make sure your records here accurately reflect your gift.)

Call Suzanne Graham, Treasurer, if you are interested or have any questions. She can be reached at 203-637-9733. You can also e-mail her at suzanneog@aol.com.