924 Lake Street - Oak Park IL 60301 - 708-386-8036 - office@graceoakpark.org
How can we express our gratitude for the many and varied blessings we have received from God?
We can use these gifts to help others - to serve our parish, to help others in our community, to serve our neighbors - to grow in faith together.
Ways to fulfill your pledge to Grace:
- Checks payable to Grace Episcopal Church may be mailed to the church office: 924 Lake Street, Oak Park, IL 60301
- Give securely online here (Grace incurs a 2.2% fee for these transactions).
- Print and return an ACH Authorization Formwith a voided check to the church office.
Dear members of Grace Church,
I hope this letter finds you and your loved ones well as we move slowly and steadily to a “new normal.”
Emerging into this new normal has been an exercise in faith, both as individuals and as a community. As the Stewardship Ministry begins Grace Church’s 2023 pledge campaign, we’re asking you to consider the essential role that faith plays in your support of Grace. We’re so convinced of the complementary nature of faith and stewardship that we’ve named our pledge campaign “Growing in Faith Together.”
In both small and big ways, Grace Church has demonstrated the power of faith in action, guided by stewardship, over the past year. Just a sample includes:
- Making our Sunday worship services (and other programming) available to those not able to attend in person, thanks to our Audio-Visual Ministry Group
- Helping to establish a credit union in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood, thanks to our Social Justice Ministry Group
- Resuming our partnership with the Housing Forward program by providing food and shelter to those in need, thanks to our Social Justice Ministry Group
- Renovating the parish’s administrative offices and classrooms, thanks to the Property Ministry Group
- Resuming summer concerts, the return of our choir to the Sunday morning service, and the concert celebrating the centennial of our organ, thanks to our Music Ministry
- Welcoming 20 new members at a July lunch, thanks to our Pastoral Care Ministry Group and its Newcomers’ Ministry
- Father John’s thought-provoking sermons like Tough Questions for Progressive Christians.
While our individual faith is powerful, it is further strengthened when we act as a community. It is an essential part of stewardship, which the Episcopal Church defines as, “What I do, with all that I have, after I say, I believe.”
Stewardship, simply put, is faith in action. It is both an expression of gratitude for the gifts we’ve been given and an investment in the continuing spiritual life of the Church.
As we move into 2023, we’re asking you to consider how your faith can demonstrate support for Grace’s ministries. Father John, the Wardens, and the Vestry have affirmed their ongoing commitment to our Ministry groups and their role in growing our faith.
Your pledge is not only an annual financial commitment to Grace and its ministries, but it is also a spiritual practice that helps us grow our faith community inside – and outside – of our Church.
As the 2023 budget is finalized, we are requesting that you consider increasing your pledge to factor in the inflationary pressures facing all of us. The final budget will be available in the coming days, and Vestry members will be happy to address any questions you may have.
On behalf of Father John, the Wardens, and the Vestry, please know that your continued support of Grace Church over these challenging years has been, and continues to be, deeply appreciated.
In faith, grace, and gratitude,
Bill Ford
Chairman, Stewardship Committee