Dear St. Paul’s Family,
I write today with a sense of purpose and expectation. Over this past year, we have marked the 100th anniversary of the establishment of our beloved parish here in Mt. Lebanon. I am excited by our shared conversations about what the next 100 years might bring. In mission and ministry, St. Paul’s has come together to think, plan, and pray for our future. However, as your treasurer, my role is to think about more regular, but no less important, matters.
Our Annual Giving and Stewardship Campaign will begin the weekend of October 18-19. The theme is One Drop. Limitless Ripples. You will soon receive information about this annual appeal in the mail, including details on how to make a recurring gift or pledge. Our Vestry uses this pledge and recurring gift information to predict the income that we can expect for 2026. This, in turn, enables the Finance Commission to create an accurate 2026 budget that meets our parish’s needs.
Our Finance Commission and Vestry are asking that each of us prayerfully consider increasing our financial support to St. Paul’s for 2026 by 4 percent or more. This level of increase, shared across all members of our congregation, would allow us to maintain our existing staffing levels as well as the programming and services to our parish and the wider community that we all appreciate. Supplies, utilities, facility maintenance, salaries, and benefits will all cost more in 2026. These are all things that it takes to run and maintain a parish of our size. Every contribution is appreciated and enables us to fulfill our mission as followers of Jesus.
As most of you are aware, we are also in the midst of a Capital Campaign, and we are grateful to those who have given to this effort. It is important to note that all funds raised through the Capital Campaign will be used for defined projects to enhance accessibility, hospitality, worship, and building and property structural integrity, as well as building up our long-term financial stability through a building reserve fund and planned gifts. While we welcome gifts made to the Capital Campaign, those gifts should not be given in place of pledges or recurring gifts to our annual Giving and Stewardship Campaign. Capital Campaign gifts cannot be used for day-to-day operating expenses, which are the glue that turns values into action, dreams into reality, and vision into ministry.
Whether you’ve recently discovered our parish family or have been part of our story for many years, we invite you to prayerfully consider increasing your stewardship campaign pledge or recurring gift amount. Each recurring gift or pledge supports the life and ministry here at St. Paul’s in an act of generosity that ripples outward across our whole congregation and the community that we serve. Click here to read the 2024 impact report which attempts to measure this impact.
On behalf of the Finance Commission and Vestry, thank you for the numerous ways you have shown your support to St. Paul’s in the past, both financially and through volunteering your time and talents. I know that you will do what you can to help us fulfill our mission in 2026.
With gratitude,
Paul Golebie, Treasurer, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church