Stewardship Letter 2012

At the Last Supper, as we read in Chapter 15 of the Gospel of John, Jesus told his disciples: "I Am the Vine; you are the branches."  By these words He showed that our existence is intimately linked with God, that we only fulfill our purpose if we abide in Him, like the branches on a vine.  The branches of the vine are the part of the plant that brings forth fruits, this is the reason of their existence "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit..." (John 15:8). 

As the branches need the Vine for life, the Vine also needs the branches in order to bear fruit in the world.  We are the stewards of the Vine in the world; stewardship is our way of life. We truly bear fruit when we serve and support God and His Church.

One thing we should all ask ourselves every day is:  are we bearing fruits?  Are we fulfilling our mission as stewards of Christ?  The answer to this question lies with each one of us and is proportional with our involvement in our personal spiritual life and in the life of our Church community.

When we share our Time, Talents and Treasure with the Church we courageously bridge the gap between liturgy and life, between the love of Jesus on the cross and our daily lives, between our beautiful theology and the practical stewardship to which we are called.  In this way we give ourselves to Christ and to each other extending the Communion of the Eucharist in our daily lives.  This is "who we are" "We" are the branches of the True Vine.

Join us on November 13th after Divine Liturgy for our Stewardship Sunday, a day when we will all prayerfully re-evaluate our involvement in the life of our community.  As you know our parish is growing, we are building a magnificent Church that will be a beacon of Christian Orthodoxy in our cities; a church that we all wanted and sacrificially committed to.

With this growth come also additional expenses.  Our operating budget will go up by approximately 27% in 2012.    Prayerfully consider an increase of your annual pledge to accommodate this increase.  In time our parish will also grow in numbers, so the individual burden might be reduced in the future, but for now we have to ensure we have the necessary means to operate in the year to come.

May God the Lord repay you a hundred fold with His grace for your commitment to His Church.

With paternal blessings,

Fr. Vasile Tudora