Time, Talents, and Treasure
Our reminder to steward God’s gifts
The Word of God does not return void, but is planted as a seed that grows into a mighty tree. This is the promise of God’s faithfulness to us. We respond in faithfulness to God.
I write this note today to bring our attention to some important needs in our community and with a hope of inspiring us to move forward together as we serve God here in Bellingham and Whatcom County.
Firstly, I want to share that we have a new Time & Talents survey available! We, your church leaders and staff, request that everyone complete this survey by June 1.
We’ve changed a few things about the Time & Talents, so let me draw attention to some of the highlights:
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- In the Personal Information section, we’ve added a field for you to share an emergency contact with the church. If you choose, you can add a name and contact info for a person you would like us to reach out to in the case of an emergency. Sometimes, it’s hard to get a hold of someone in our congregation. Perhaps you have a friend, sibling, or child you would like us to follow up with should we not be able to reach you. We have also included a space for you to add a medical note, as well. All of this will remain private in the Planning Center church database, which we use for our Giving and Membership records.
- We have updated the Occupation field, as well. How do you spend your days? What field of work are or were you in? We want to know, so we can support these important vocational callings. Just recently, in worship, we had a teacher sharing about needs in the education system. We want to help connect affinity groups like this and bless your work as Christ’s hands and feet in the world.
- Helping Around the Church gives you a number of ways to offer your time and talents. Whether it be through sharing music in worship or helping around the church office or joining a church committee, this is where you can tell us what you would like to do (and see where your skills meet needs here).
- Finally, and this is different, we have a Missions Survey. This year, we want to know: Where do you already serve? Our Mission and Social Action committee is seeking helpers who can represent St. James as a contact with our many mission partners. As well, we want to know where our community members might be actively serving, but we don’t know about it. Or maybe there’s a new organization we need to consider supporting. Tell us!
Please complete the Time and Talents at your earliest convenience. You can find it here: http://www.saintjamespres.org/serve
A closing note: Time, talents, and…treasure. In the coming weeks and months, the Session, Church Finance Committee, and Trustees will be deliberating and discerning our current financial position. We all know that expenses are up. Utility prices have risen. Wages and cost of living continue to increase. We will craft a plan to adapt to these realities, but the clearest picture right now tells us we need to increase our revenue. We must think creatively about using our building and finding new tenants. We need to be wise about our expenses and reduce where we can. And we need to expand our reach, growing our giving base as we prepare for the next chapter of our ministry here.
In all of this, we trust in Christ’s faithfulness and provision. It is a joy to serve alongside you. Grace and peace,
Pastor Seth