As I tried to put together this Stewardship Campaign, I realized how much Fr. John and Anne did for us. I know we’re supposed to look to the future and break some of those ties that we had, but I think it’s OK to look back and miss them. I realized this so starkly when I knew that there was no way I could put together those thoughtful and personalized words within the Pledge Letters, as he used to do. I know many of you, but certainly not all of you, and certainly not in that way that Fr. John knew you. In a way, I feel like we lost that “adult supervision†that we took for granted, particularly (for me at least) regarding God and other things spiritual. What do I know about stewardship? Who am I to head up the effort to fund Holy Cross and its mission? That was Fr. John’s Job!!!
But then Kerri reminded me, “Sometimes you don’t grow unless you have toâ€.
AND my how we’ve stepped up! Treasurer, Warden, Convention Delegates, Stewardship, Children’s Formation, Outreach, Search committee, Chicken Barbeque, the weekly “Cat Herding†that Will and Phyllis Townsend do to put together these beautiful services. WOW! There’s a lot of work to be done, but WE’RE DOING IT. We have two amazing interim ministers. Fr. Huddleston, your words are careful and thoughtful and prayerful. Bishop Walmsley, we’ve been blessed with your experience and wisdom for so long – when you give sermons, it’s almost like we’re not going through this transition.
It’s funny – the more I think about our theme this year, the better it sounds – “Sustenanceâ€. We don’t need to change too many things for now. We don’t need a new building, we don’t need new landscaping, we don’t need anything new or big. What we have already is big enough. Sure we must continue to grow this congregation, but right now, our primary focus has to be on sustaining what we have.
All the Stewardship Campaigns we’ve done in the past were important – last year, with its theme of “Transition†propelled us forward with a record number of pledges. But for some reason this year seems more important than ever. This year is our opportunity to say to those search candidates – “Holy Cross is good  “Holy Cross is worth itâ€.
The bottom line is that, I believe, God want Holy Cross to survive. God wants us to be successful. God want us to keep doing the good work we’ve been doing in this community for so many years.