Good morning! I am Terri Matteo, the lead for our vibrant Stewardship Committee at St. Matthew Trinity. This year the theme for our annual fall stewardship program is the Warmth of SMT. I have personally benefitted from the warmth, love, and caring of this congregation as i’m sure that many of you have as well.
The warmth of SMT is evident in so very many ways. This is a kind, caring, inclusive, and inviting congregation that celebrates each person who chooses to worship here. A warm and supportive community awaits all who step through our doors and chooses to get involved. Some of the kindest people i have met are the people that i have come to know through my involvement at St. Matthew Trinity.
Our entire city block speaks to the mission of this congregation. Many of you know of our Lunchtime Ministry program that runs Monday through Thursday and serves not only food and coffee but community, dignity, and supportive life skills programs. We have six affordable apartments that allow for people to live safely in the heart of Hoboken. We rent space to a counseling agency. You may know that SMT is a founding member of the Hoboken Shelter and that our involvement allows that vital ministry to continue to help people find housing. Our renovated SMT Center on Washington Street offers a bright and cheerful face to our community. This center allows for self help groups to gather and offers space for summer worship, jazz concerts, and community activities. Our beautiful historic sanctuary is one of the hidden gems of Hoboken and our faithful stewardship has preserved the integrity of the roof, the renovation of the interior walls, and our recent work in the back will offer open spaces for baptisms and entering for worship.
In order for this important work to continue in our corner of the world in Hoboken… it is necessary to have the commitment of time, talent, and money from our members and supporters. Each year we have the privilege and opportunity to pledge our time, talent, and money so that our outreach, our worship space and services, and our kindness can touch and impact more lives. I encourage you to think about how you can add to the mission that we are engaged in at SMT. May I suggest that a smile, a hug, a card, an encouraging word may mean more than you know to the person you are reaching out to in the spirit of kindness and compassion.
There’s a story that I’ve heard regarding stewardship and giving. My mom grew up in MN so this is an agricultural story but I think that we can relate. I heard this story in my childhood so you can see that it has had a lasting impact on me. The owner of the grain elevator processing plant in town was a member of the local Lutheran church. The church council was having difficulty filling all the necessary positions for the church to function properly, so they asked him if he would be the financial secretary/treasurer for one year. He agreed on one condition: nobody could ask him any questions for one year and he would report in detail at the annual meeting. The annual meeting came and he presented his repeort: all debts were satisfied. All current bills were paid and up to date. Improvements to the church, parsonage, and church grounds were now possible. Money was set aside in a savings account for unforeseen circumstances. The council and congregation were astounded. They asked him how he did it. He said it was rather simple: when the farmers brought their grain to be processed he gave 10% of the profits to the church and gave 90% to the farmer. The farmer never missed the money. The farmer and his family were able to live comfortably and the church was able to thrive.
What could be the possibilities at SMT if we were able to increase our pledges of time, talent, and money to SMT for this coming year? Do we have the audacity to try? Do we dare to dream? I believe that we do! I believe in the generosity of this congregation.
How can we share the warmth that we have come to know at St. Matthew Trinity? Last year our congregation created a quilt that now hangs in our SMT center and serves as a symbol of warmth for welcoming others into our fold. This year we will be tying fleece blankets after church that we will donate to our Lunchtime Ministry. We invite you to join us downstairs after church. We are donating hats and gloves accompanied with caring notes from our Sunday School to help keep our guests warm during the winter months. You may bring new blankets, hats, and/or gloves to church and we will ensure that they are given to LTM. In addition, we are collecting satchels for our local seafarers that include sweatshirts, socks, hats, and gloves that offer warmth for their long days alone as they deliver goods.
I gather inspiration from quotes from people who reflect our goodness. This quote is from Gandhi: “There are people in the world so hungry, that god cannot appear to them except in the form of food.”
How will we allow God to appear to our neighbors? Through our caring, our generosity, and our service. Through a blanket, a hat, gloves, a warm cup of coffee, a welcoming smile, a sincere hug, a kind word…….The possibilities are endless if we dare to try.
I invite each and every one of you to become involved in the life of this congregation. No one person needs to do everything but everyone can do something.
It can be difficult to make that first step but i assure you that it will be worthwhile. We invite you to make a new commitment of your precious time, unique talents, and money. All these gifts come from God in the first place.
Pledge Sunday is technically November 24th but we are going to have a pledge month/season.. similar to the election! You may pledge early by filling out a form at church and placing it in the offering plate or mailing it into the church or handing it to myself or a stewardship committee member….Or you may go online and pledge, our link is up and running here….And you may do so at any time. We are small but mighty and we need all of us so that we may continue to minister in this corner of our world. Please join us as we plan for our work that reflects our caring and love for our community and we can show what god does look like to others through our action.
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