Giving

    Annual Giving  
    Why Pledge

    Lifetime Giving
Why Should I Pledge?

    What is a pledge?  It is a spiritual commitment,
    discerned through prayerful consideration of the gifts
    you have been given as a result of your health, your
    intellect, your energy, the circumstances of your birth,
    your education, and all of the areas where your life has
    been blessed.  The consideration of a pledge amount
    begins from what you know about your present situation;
    if circumstances change, a pledge can be increased or
    decreased.

    For St. Peter's, pledges guide the Vestry in planning the
    annual budget.  If there were no pledges it would be
    impossible to make financial commitments to our staff,
    expenses and ministries.

    We at St. Peter's urge all members and regularly
    attending visitors to pledge a portion of their gifts to the
    church.

    How Much do I pledge and how do I decide?
    In the Bible there is mention of a "tithe", a specific
    obligation to give back to God one-tenth of what we
    have received. That is 10% and is a very high goal to
    strive toward.  It is not an obligation at St. Peter's.  
    There is no obligation at St. Peter's.  In fact, at St.
    Peter's we recognize the great world-wide need for
    giving and feel that the 10% goal is an overall goal.
    Instead of starting with 10% we urge each person to
    consider giving an amount that is challenging and
    sacrificial.  St. Peter's is a more significant presence in
    your life when you have stretched yourself to give from
    your gifts.

    First Fruits:  We read in Scripture that the"first fruits"
    are most important part of the gift.  We give the first, the
    very best, of what we have "harvested", not what is left
    over.  In the Fall, the typical time to pledge for the
    following year, you are allocating your "first fruits" to
    God.

    Proportional Giving:  The tithe that's mentioned in the
    Bible is a way of proportional giving.  In the example of
    the tithe the giver gives a one-tenth portion to God.

    Ten percent is perhaps too high for many to think
    about.  If such is the case for you, then pick some other
    percentage of your income.  The national average of
    pledging is 2.6% of income.  No matter what percentage
    you choose to give, proportional giving is a logical way
    to plan your own personal budget.  Even when you don't
    consciously set a percentage to give, any regular and
    intentional giving of a specific amount of money is a
    proportion of your income; it remains only to define the
    percentage

    We urge you to commit to St. Peter's with the small step
    of completing a pledge card in the Fall, keeping a record
    of your gift by using the Personal Worksheet below.  
    Then, each year, you might build upon that initial pledge
    by increasing the percentage an amount in your goal to
    work toward the tithe, the Biblical "tenth".  In doing so
    you will be joining the majority of givers to St. Peter's;
    you will be in good company, growing together in
    faithfulness to the Lord our God.

Your Personal Worksheet:
Last year my gift to the church has was $________.
Last year my income was $_______.
Looking at the proportional giving chart, the percentage
    of my gifts last year was _______%.
After prayer and reflection I wish to increase this
    percentage by ______%.
The amount I will pledge as an estimate for giving for
    next year is $________.
As you see, when doing this calculation we don't use the current year.  All
the numbers are from last year.  This is because the current year is not
yet complete; we don't know how things play out this year.  When we
perform this calculation in the Fall of next year we will use the results from
what is now the current year.
Proportional Giving Chart: