Loved ones,

Sometimes life gets busy and things are put aside for a bit. For those who have not yet pledged for 2024, we’re reaching out with hearts full of hope and a simple ask: support our church, support our community.

In the past year, we’ve seen incredible moments of kindness, connection, and growth within our church family. But to keep this flame alive, we need your support.

Your pledge of financial support, will help us extend our arms further into the Cecil County community helping the hungry and homeless, supporting our programs for senior ministry, our Recovery ministry, teaching our children, and maintaining the warm embrace of our sacred space.

Let’s weave a tapestry of love, compassion, and faith together. Your support means the world to us.

To donate, please the pledge button on this website or drop your pledge envelope in the offering plate on Sunday.

Thank you for being the heartbeat of our community.

Warm regards,

Fr. John and the Vestry of St. Mary Anne’s

 

One of our yearly outreach projects is the Giving Tree, which commits to providing Christmas gifts for local children who would otherwise do without. This year our Giving Tree project sponsors children in need from North East Elementary School.

A Christmas tree, decorated with names, will be in the Parish Hall on Sunday, November 26th, after the 8 and 10AM services. Deadline for gift return is Sunday, December 17th.

Linda Hunt is the Giving Tree Coordinator, and can answer any of your questions.

 

The Vestry met on Wednesday evening, and here are the highlights:

• John thanked Fr. Sam for taking the Sunday Services during his recent trip to visit family in Connecticut. In addition, our Sunday attendance is steady with a slight growth in numbers. We would like to see more people at Coffee Hours and more signups for Coffee hosting. Hosts can combine forces and work as teams, too! Plans are underway for special services on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
• Senior Warden: No report, all is in order.
• Junior Warden: The back gate is repaired, recoated, and mounted. Mr. Hamilton is doing fine work. The next gate repair is on the sidewalk gate at Church Point Road.
• Treasurer: Our finances are in order. We are watching our budget closely and following our 2023 plan. Pledges for 2023 are coming in at 96%. Our 2024 Stewardship Campaign is winding down. We are happy to report 12 new pledge units but at this time, we are under our 2023 pledge amount. We are asking those who haven’t pledged, to consider helping us in 2024.

Vestry Liaison Reports:

• Food Pantry: Offering 80 turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We have a growing number of individuals and families now being served weekly. We are grateful have Outreach funds in place to serve those in need.
• Mission Committee: Busy planning 2024 budget and looking for more opportunities to help more people.
• Choir/Music: Plans are in place for the choir to perform in Advent and at our 7PM Christmas Eve Service.
• Coffee House: Last performance of 2023 is this Saturday at 7:30PM. We can use a few good people to help with set-up and take-down.
• ECW: The elections for new officers was held at their November meeting: Dru Torregrossa, President; Phyllis Doyle, Vice-President; Nancy Leizear, Recording Secretary; Andrea Pugh, Treasurer, and Directors are Kathy Mullen, Judy Coudon, and Wendy Gilbert. A budget is now in place for 2024 and by-laws updated. Christmas Cookie Walk is Dec. 2. Bakers are needed for this popular fund-raising event.

New Business: John Stemen is our new Food Pantry Community Resource person. He is traveling around the County talking with local schools and community organizations, accessing needs and determining how we can help.

As always, complete Vestry Minutes are available for all parishioners to read. Copies of the minutes can be found in our Parish Office Library. The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 13 at 6:30 in the Parish Center.

 

Our  Annual Christmas Cookie Walk  returns on Saturday, December 2 from 9 to Noon in our Parish Hall.

We intend to have a huge and delicious assortment of homemade Christmas cookies to purchase by the pound ($8.50).

What exactly is a Cookie Walk? We bake dozens of beautiful and assorted homemade Christmas cookies and sell them for $8.50 a pound. When customers arrive, they receive their own cookie box and a pair of gloves–and then they proceed to choose their own cookie selection.

 

We kick off our annual Stewardship Campaign this week. You will receive a Stewardship letter and pledge card in your mailbox within the next few days. Commitment Sunday is this weekend, and pledges will be accepted from this Sunday going forward. We ask that you prayerfully consider pledging to St. Mary Anne’s, so we can continue a mission that began 317 years ago!

The following is a Vestry Statement on Stewardship that propels our Vestry and ministry. We pray that you commit to this mission and support our efforts to the bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the North East community and beyond.

What We Believe

We will be good stewards of the mission of our Church – We gather in the name of Jesus Christ to worship God, To invite all into a community of friendship, love and respect, and to nurture and strengthen our faith. We go out to share God’s Spirit and to live God’s love, to be faithful stewards of God’s creation, and to help those in need.

Stewardship is embedded in everything we do and everything we are. We will focus on the theology of abundance*. In God’s redemptive love, we are confident there is enough of what we really need to go around. We will invite and desire 100% participation in what we practice.

What We Practice as Members of Saint Mary Anne’s:

• Involvement in some form of spiritual growth and renewal
• Active participation in public worship
• Service in our ministries
• Promise of financial support to our Parish

*2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.

How We Give

Give First Fruits. Give God the first portions of your income. When we pay our bills, write our check to the Church first: as an offering and as a reminder that all things from God.

Give Proportionately. We give in proportion to the income we receive, not a specific amount. Proportionate giving challenges both the rich and the poor. A specific percentage of one’s income does not adequately express our stewardship before God.

Give Sacrificially. Give sacrificially usually includes a rearrangement of priorities, a change in lifestyle, or a forfeiture of something valued.

Give Regularly. The habit of regular, pledged giving serves as a constant reminder of the generosity of God and helps to shape our souls. Pledged giving also allows the Church to plan responsibly for our ministries.

Give Cheerfully. Joy, faith, and service are the qualities that form the foundation of proportionate giving. Receiving is wonderful, but the exhilaration is greater when we are able to give to another person. The Lord loves a cheerful giver.

Give Quietly. Our purpose is to please God, not others. The dollar amounts will vary considerably, but each is sharing with God, through the Church, out of what God has provided.

Commitment Sunday is October 15.

Please prayerfully consider your annual pledge to the Church.

Pledges for 2024 can be submitted throughout the Stewardship Campaign.