donations

Stewardship for the new year

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 try not to talk about the finances of the church very often. I tire of all the preachers in the world who constantly work to pull every penny from their followers to get a new jet, new car, or a new house. However, the reality is that ministry cost money just like everything else in the world.

There are candles, batteries, hosting services, domain names, phone services, hosts, wine, supplies for the blessing bags, as well as many office supplies that are required to keep a parish moving forward. Unlike most pastors, I do not make a dime doing the work of my ministry. I am not paid or stipend for the work I do.

This weekend we read about another minister who had nothing. Elijah, a prophet in Israel, spent his time walking from city to city preaching the message given him by God without payment. All he asked was for a place to lay his head and some food. And in this particular passage, Elijah comes upon a widow living in an area of extreme drought and out of food herself. He asks her to make a couple of bread cakes out of what she had left for them to eat together.

Knowing that she was making their last meal for her, her son, and Elijah, she obeyed. And for this God blessed her with enough flour and oil to keep eating for a year! Rain finally came and her and the area around her was saved.

Also in the Gospel, we read about the widow who gave her last two pennies to help the ministry. Jesus praised her for her sacrifice saying that she would be blessed for giving of her need rather than giving little from her abundance like all the other people in the temple.

All too often, we refuse to help the ministry of the church thinking that someone else will help. We lament that we do not have the funds or that our money could go to better use. Each Sunday, I remind you all the work we do with the homeless and poor in our area. So many months now, I have taken money out of my own pocket to help keep our ministries here at Saint Francis Parish and Outreach going.

We have one faithful servant of God who does help. And for their contributions we are eternally grateful. However, we need more people to step up and to help contribute to keeping out ministry alive. For the first time in my ministry of 26 years, this Advent, we will be holding a stewardship campaign to help keep our ministry going in the new year.

I am asking you to pray about how you might be a part of our ministry. Your financial support is vital if we are to continue our Masses on social media and our outreach to the poor and homeless. We want to start several small group programs in 2025 and need your help to make that possible.

This is your sign. We cannot go on without you!

I hope you will answer the call.

And I hope to see you in the pews on Sunday!

Pax et Bonum,

Bishop Greer

Giving Joyfully

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This Sunday we have the Gospel reading of the rich young man. Jesus was asked by him what he must do to inherent eternal life. Jesus told him that he must follow the ten commandments. He replied that he had kept all the commandments since his youth. Jesus then told him to go, sell all that he had, and give that money to the poor. The young man went away upset because he was rich and did not want to let go of his wealth.

Jesus remarks to his disciples that it is easier for a rope to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to inherent the Kingdom of God. Yes, I know, most English translations say camel, but that is a mistranslation. The actual translation preserved in the Syriac Peshitta says rope.

Living in the Deep South and having endured the recent destruction caused by Hurricane Helene and Milton, I have seen so many people reach out to help one another survive. None of them were rich. All of them were people like me and you; barely scrapping by and trying hard to survive on what little they had.

Like the parable of the woman who gave her last two coins to the temple treasury, so many people gave from their need, not their abundance. The few people who were rich and helped did so after being shamed on social media into helping. That is not given from their heart or their sense of Christian charity. No, it was giving from their desire to save face.

We are a small parish. We have very little in the way of funding. However, we continue to help the poor and homeless, not from our abundance, but from our need. We cannot turn our backs on those who need our assistance. And we are commanded to help them no matter what.

Today, I ask you, will you give to our parish and help us to continue the great work we do here in the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA)? Will you give of your need or your abundance to make sure others have what they need to survive? Will you bless others as you have been blessed?

So many people watch us online, yet so few support the parish financially. It is time this changed. Be a part of our ministry by dedicating your time, talents, and money to help us.

If you cannot give financially, can you be a lector? Can you take time to record you reading the Sunday readings to send to us? What about taking time to record a video about how our parish affects your life? Or maybe you have parish management skills we can use. There are so many ways for you to volunteer and help us out.

Pray about how you might be able to help others through our parish family.

Pax et Bonum,

Bishop Greer

Our command to help others

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We have seen the situation play out in churches repeatedly throughout the years. People who claim to be Christians fighting with each other over who is the best Christian. They play a game with their faith, seeing it as something that one must work to be better than their fellow Christians.

Sadly, this is not a new situation. Jesus had to confront this type of spiritual abuse among his own disciples. They were caught by Jesus arguing about who was the greatest disciple. And Jesus confronted this argument in a unique way.

Jesus tells the disciples that if they want to be the first in the kingdom of God, they must first be the last. They must be like a little child. In other words, they had to be humble and put others before themselves.

Saint Francis of Assisi would spread that same message 1200 years later. He would remind his followers that to be first, you had to put everyone ahead of you. He went as far as to tell his brothers that they needed to be last when it came to getting their food and eating. They should make sure others were fed first.

These brothers, later called friars, would make this a central part of their daily lives. Here at Saint Francis Parish and Outreach, we are a Franciscan parish focused on putting those most in need ahead of ourselves.

I am asked a lot why we ask for so much help to feed the homeless and poor. My answer is simple: Jesus told us to, and Saint Francis commanded us to. So, we work diligently to help as many people as we can.

We ask you to help for two reasons: 1) the task is too great for one person to do alone, and 2) we are giving you the opportunity to live the message of the Gospel. This is your chance to be part of a movement bigger than yourself, to help those most in need of love and support.

I know you get tired of hearing about it, but your support helps us and you. It helps the poor and homeless in the CSRA. And sending a donation to our parish helps to keep us actively helping those who need our help most.

I hope you will come to worship with us this Sunday, either in person or online. And that you will consider signing up for reoccurring donations to our outreaches and parish.

Pax et Bonum,

Bishop Greer