What a difference a year makes! First off, Kimberly and I want to THANK the parish for your amazing prayers and support the last year as we guided Hawthorne through Vanderbilt Trauma Center, then Shepherd Center in Atlanta after his injury. The LOVE we felt was real and we can never forget how powerful the support was.
Quick side story: I happened to run into a parishioner at the grocery store that I have known for years, but admittedly, not super well. We spoke and said hello in front of the yogurt section and he simply said, “how is your son doing? I’ve been praying for him for a long while now”. I literally almost burst into tears after such a simple question of concern from a person I know, but not that well. And as I thanked him and said, “thank you so much for asking, he’d doing really well”, it hit me like a ton of bricks. This is what St John’s is at its core! A caring, loving, reactionary place that means the world to all of us.
So, it’s with a wonderful feeling of déjà vu that I script this message of stewardship, since I missed last year’s campaign dealing with our son’s situation. Happiest of updates: Hawthorne is fairing amazingly well, and we could not be more pleased. So now that I am back to “fanning the flames”, I do want to take a moment to remind everyone that YOU ALL are what makes St John’s so special and unique in so many ways. We all have our “go to nooks and crannies” of why we love this parish, and all the pieces make a complete church that is second to none.
To keep the parish running and making our city and river region a better place, it takes a financial commitment plain and simple. Kimberly and I pledge because we want to guarantee that things can be counted on to allow the church to be the best it can be! I ask you to prayerfully consider to “fan the flames” with us and make a financial pledge to this year’s campaign. I guarantee it will feed you spiritually and you can know you are helping Duncan, Mark, the wonderful staff, all of our incredible programs and offerings going forward. Thanks again for your commitment to St John’s.