Dear Lord God, we thank you!

Dear Lord God,
You alone are the source of every good gift
and the mystery of each human life.
We thank you for creation
and for your tender, faithful love.
Fill our minds with the Gospel of your son Jesus
and fill our hearts with his compassion.
Send your Spirit to grant us wisdom
that our gratitude may bind us together i
nto a community of faith and a caring people.
Give us the courage
to express our gratitude first
as we discern how to be good stewards
of the gifts entrusted to us,
that we may do the work for your Kingdom.
In your son’s name we pray, Amen!

This is the prayer that your Stewardship Commission uses every meeting. It was developed while I was at Holy Rosary Edmonds from a prayer available online and edited by yours truly to make the rhythm flow more smoothly and add a few of my favorite themes.There is no time-talent-treasure here but instead Gospel, Gift and Gratitude. There is our triune God and gifts given. There is the acknowledgment that we and all we have are gift to be shared in gratitude to our creator.

So Happy Thanksgiving!!! I remain thankful for this Parish which has nourished my spirit for over forty years. I have had the privilege to have been educated by some of the best homilists in Western Washington. I am thankful for the choirs who have brought life and joy to our worship. I am thankful for the parishioners who have valued our community through good times and bad, whose prayers have brought some healings that had very low chances of success, and have worked incredibly hard to maintain this parish. I am grateful for Diane and Nicole, who are spiritually strong and skilled administrators. I am so grateful for Nicole becoming a live-stream expert, a far cry from faith formation. And finally let me say I am grateful for Fr. Woody, who is faith-filled, learned, a great homilist and a skilled administrator. In this time of gratitude, let us take some time to look at our personal budgets as a spiritual exercise.

I would invite you to look at where you spend your money and where your priorities are and make a financial commitment to St. Therese that reflects your priorities. While the collections numbers are on budget, that budget had a $15,000 deficit! Your pledge will also affect the budgeting for the fiscal year beginning next July 1. For instance, if we are to grow our Parish, we need to do some publicity work, and that requires some funding. You can make a pledge here. After Christmas, you’ll need to fulfill your pledge by going to the Pushpay app on your phone, choosing “recurring” at the bottom of the screen, and editing your recurring gift.

Ministry Opportunities
Do you have expertise with online marketing? The Stewardship Commission is looking to put together a digital outreach team and could need your help! If you can serve, contact John Russell at jvrussell85@gmail.com.

We also need photographers for parish outreach! If you are good with asking people if you can take their picture, your phone will take care of the rest. Contact Diane at paa@st-therese.cc.

To help run our livestream equipment, contact Nicole at nicoles@st-therese.cc. The livestream is not just a nice to-do. It’s a must-do and Nicole needs your help! Contact Nicole at nicole@st-therese.cc.

Parish Collections
July 1, 2021 – November 24, 2021.….... $154,619
The budget….…. $143,000
Last year at this time….…. $129,604