Before we can tend something, we have to see it.
In Genesis, Hagar finds herself alone in the wilderness, overlooked by the people around her. There she discovers that she is not invisible to God. She names God El Roi: "the God who sees me."
That story gives us a place to begin this year's stewardship season.
What happens when we really see what is in front of us?
At Emmanuel, seeing means noticing what is flourishing and what is struggling. What is visible and what happens quietly. The generosity we celebrate and the gaps we have learned to work around. The ministries that are growing, the spaces that need tending, and the people whose time, prayer, skill, care, and financial generosity make this community possible.
You can't tend something you aren't willing to see.
God's generosity is already here.
$195,823
CURRENT HOUSEHOLD
PLEDGES
68
HOUSEHOLDS PLEDGING
9
NEW PLEDGES
28
RENEWING HOUSEHOLDS INCREASED
Those numbers become something. They become worship and music. Formation for children and adults. Pastoral care. Welcome. Outreach. Administration. Heat, light, technology, repairs, and the thousand small things that allow ministry to happen.
But money tells only part of Emmanuel's story.
Every week, people give time, professional skills, food, flowers, music, teaching, prayer, hospitality, leadership, maintenance, rides, listening, organizing, and care. Some of Emmanuel's most important generosity will never appear on a financial statement.
And seeing honestly also means noticing the other side: work deferred because there isn't money for it, ministries supported by grants that will not last forever, maintenance waiting its turn, and essential work quietly absorbed by volunteers and staff.
See the gifts. See the gaps.
What does it take to tend Emmanuel well?
$195,823
WHERE WE ARE
Current Household Pledges
+ $9,177 to sustaining level
$205,000
SUSTAIN
Approximately what it takes to sustain current ministry and operations
+ $35,000–$45,000 from sustain to flourish
$240,000–$250,000
FLOURISH
Financial room to care for what we have and invest intentionally in what comes next
Keeping pace matters.
But keeping pace and flourishing are different things.
Some "low-cost" ministry is not actually low-cost. Sometimes someone else is paying the difference through unpaid labor, deferred maintenance, limited staff hours, grants, or exhaustion.
What could flourishing make possible?
CARE FOR OUR PEOPLE
Fairer compensation, adequate paid administrative hours, and less dependence on people absorbing essential work simply because the budget cannot.
INVEST IN WORSHIP
Choir vestments, music and liturgical resources, and technology that supports beautiful, accessible worship.
CARE FOR OUR PLACE
Regular sexton/caretaker support, cleaning, everyday maintenance and small repairs, and more consistent care for our grounds.
CREATE ROOM FOR YES
Capacity to respond to repairs, pastoral and community needs, and new ministry without every new "yes" requiring heroic volunteer effort, an emergency appeal, or a lucky grant.
NOURISH OUR NEIGHBORS
Sustainable support for ministries such as Soul Supper instead of depending indefinitely on one-time grants.
Flourishing means caring well for what God has already entrusted to us.
Stewardship is a response.
Once we see what God has entrusted to us and know what tending it requires, each of us gets to ask:
How am I being invited to live it?
That response may include your financial pledge. It may also include your time, skills, prayer, presence, relationships, service, or care.
A pledge isn't a fee for belonging to Emmanuel.
I see what God is doing here. I want to be part of tending it.
There is no typical Emmanuel pledge.
Households give at many different levels. These figures aren't a ranking or an expectation. They simply offer a picture of the giving community we are already part of and a way to think about what generosity might look like in your own household.
Pledge Households Share*
$1–$999 11 16%
$1,000–$2,499 26 39%
$2,500–$4,999 23 34%
$5,000–$9,999 5 7%
$10,000+ 2 3%
*66 positive dollar pledges shown
A pledge in everyday rhythms
Annual Monthly Weekly
$1000 $83.33 $19.23
$2500 $208.33 $48.08
$5,000 $416.67 $96.15
$7,500 $625.00 $144.23
$10,000 $833.33 $192.31
$15,000 $1250.00 $288.46
Generosity looks different in every household.
Sometimes changing the scale helps us see what might be possible in our own.
Hear from our community