Dear St. Lukers,
I hope that you have begun to explore and reflect on your BE “star words” you were given earlier this year. In worship and online over the last six weeks, our pastors have challenged us to consider these BE words and sayings: Be Guided, Be Loved, Be Ready, Be Bold, Belong, and Be Present.
Each of these reflections of BE has allowed us to focus on who we are as followers of Jesus, how we commune together as a congregation at St. Luke’s, and how we live out our callings together in our communities here in Central Florida. This work is done individually and collectively to show the love of Jesus within ourselves, to each other, and in Central Florida and beyond. And this week, we move our focus to promising our gifts as a part of what it means to belong to a community of faith.
Over the last three years, we as a church have been in the discernment process of the vision of St. Luke’s and how we will serve the Central Florida community as a beacon of love, equity, and justice. Teams have prayed, studied, and listened to you, while gathering information on our community and its needs to identify how we as St. Luke’s can Thrive in 2025 and beyond.
In the coming weeks, you will see what we feel God is calling us as a congregation to do to serve our congregation as well as the Central Florida community in new and impactful ways. I encourage you to consider how you might be called to be a part of the amazing ways in which St. Luke’s in currently stepping up and living into this vision already. There is a place for all of us to be part of what God is doing through St. Luke’s right now!
One of the most important parts of stewardship is your resources. These gifts allow the ministry of St. Luke’s to reach across the campus and the community to bring Christ’s healing and hope to so many. Our staff and Finance Committee over the years have done an amazing job of managing our budget to ensure each year, our finances were within our giving. This was mostly done by managing expenses as our giving has remained relatively flat over the same time period.
Last week we kicked off our 2025 Estimate of Giving, which allows you as St. Lukers to provide an estimate of how you think you will use your resources to help us live into our strategic vision. This estimate will allow our ministry leaders to plan and be good stewards of all that you entrust to them.
In this week’s Scripture we see Paul writing to the church in Corinth, while overcome with gladness he writes of the “abundance of joy” that the church in Macedonia has experienced. He says that “they gave according to their means…and beyond their means, of their own accord” allowing the church to provide for the needs of the congregation and community around them.
Over the next few weeks as you consider what it means for you to “Belong” at St. Luke’s, I want to invite you to complete an Estimate of Giving for the year (click here to complete yours online). This is a way to be intentional about your own stewardship of God’s resources that have been entrusted to you, and to choose to lead your life with intention in the way that you are giving them back to God’s work through this church and through revealing God’s Kingdom together.
Our goal is to have all Estimates collected by March 2 via mail, the dropbox outside Building C, or online. I thank you in advance for all that you are able to do as we, together, bring to life our mission of Awakening Disciples to Reveal the Kingdom here in Central Florida.
Blessings,
Casey Strong
St. Luker and Lay Leader