Dear Friends,
This Sunday, we will kick off our 2024 Pledge Campaign which is entitled, “Make a Joyful Pledge… and find joy in return.” Even in the midst of the worst kind of news, Christians possess a holy hope which allows us to find joy, even in the midst of the most extreme circumstances.
- Our joy is in knowing we have a holy purpose.
- Our joy is in knowing what we do makes a difference in the world.
- Our joy is in knowing that by contributing to this parish, we can continue to make a difference in this broken world
In a week featuring political chaos in Washington, D.C. and unspeakable violence in the Middle East, are we not ever more compelled to be people of prayer? In a week when we see more and more people sleeping on sidewalks and more and more people in need of food and basic necessities, people of faith are required to take action. The need for moral voices in the public square and for hands-on faith-in-action, has never been more imperative.
Our church has a reason for being.
Saint Bartholomew’s in the City of New York is devoted to being a community of faith which responds to needs of humanity in God’s name. For 188 years, members of our parish have been worshipping God, educating people in the Christian faith, visiting the sick and imprisoned, feeding the hungry, and housing those who have no bed to call their own. We’ve been a clarion voice for justice, peace, and equality. We have extended our radical hospitality to a broad constituency of people of every sort and condition. Over the years, leaders of our parish have done extreme and, in the minds of some, crazy things, in order to live out Christ’s imperative to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and to love our neighbor as ourself.
Your gifts to St. Bart’s will be carefully and faithfully applied and I can’t think of another organization or institution anywhere that will be a more careful steward of your hard-earned resources. Our church has a reason for being and, in these days, you are seeing exactly what that reason is and why St. Bart’s is so desperately needed.
Make a Joyful Pledge to support the mission and ministry of St. Bart’s… and find joy in return.
Faithfully,
The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe, D.D.
Rector