Dear saints,
Of the things that I miss about merry old England, one of them is the annual harvest festival at church. The harvest festival invited the local community to support the town’s economically disadvantaged through the gift of food. For the week ahead of the Sunday service, a food-based sculpture of ornately baked breads, fresh vegetables and fruits, and all manner of non-perishable foodstuffs was built in front of the altar. It was glorious to behold. These childhood memories of the church in action will be evoked for me this Sunday as we commit not our fruits and vegetables but our financial gifts to God’s purposes. We call it, ‘Commitment Sunday’ which is exactly as it should be named. It is not a collection, nor an in-gathering, and it is certainly not the tallying of membership dues! Our pledges to All Saints’ are the material commitment we make as a whole church to the world around us. Through your generous and courageous giving we will be a force for good among metro-Atlanta’s urban poor, refugee communities, and those who struggle with homelessness and addiction. We will tend to the sick, inspire hearts and minds to embody consequential lives of faith in the world and nurture hundreds of children and youth in the way of God’s grace and love. Your commitment to all of this matters deeply. For we are so much more powerful and purposeful when we are all committed to the work in Christ we share. We need your commitment, no matter the size, no matter your age or circumstance, so that might become the church God calls us to be. If you have not yet pledged your commitment to All Saints’ mission and ministries I invite you to do so now. There is so much we can do when we live as one body. Praise be to God for all you are and do.
Peace,
Simon+
