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St. Markers are in love with Jesus Christ and passionate about seeing God’s Kingdom purposes met through our ministries. We desire to be part of it by giving generously of our time, gifts, and money.
It is part of our church’s mission to encourage consistent, generous, and cheerful giving to St. Mark’s out of gratitude to God and love of Jesus Christ.
A Word from the Vestry
Dear fellow St. Markers,
People watching! Now that is a popular pastime. The Gospel of Mark tells us that even Jesus engaged in it. "And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched people putting money into the offering box." (Mark 12:41). I can visualize the scene; the pious wealthy all decked out in their lavish robes, tossing bags of coins into the metal coffers, delighting as their contributions rang out loudly among the crowd.
And then quietly a lowly widow slips in, unnoticed. She drops her last two coins into the same coffer and disappears back into the crowd. But she did not go completely unnoticed. Mark's Gospel continues, "And he called his disciples to him and said to them, 'Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all of those who are contributing to the offering box.' " (Mark 12:43)
Then Jesus takes the art of people watching to a higher level. He not only watches the participants, but he knows their hearts, their motives, and their attitudes towards giving. Not only did he know how much each gave, he also knew how much they kept back for themselves. He knew the widow had dropped her very last two coins into the offering box. He observed that they all contributed out of their abundance, but she "out of her poverty, has put in everything she had, all she had to live on." (Mark 12:44)
This is the part of the story that causes me to feel slightly uncomfortable. While we do give to St. Mark's a set amount of our income, we do not give as generously as the poverty-stricken widow, who gave everything she had-two coins worth a penny; such an act of faith and trust in God cannot be measured or fathomed.
As we gather together this Thanksgiving season and offer God our gratitude for all His blessings, perhaps we will think of the widow who did so much with so little. Let us all be guided by that same faith and joy, as we offer with thanksgiving our resources to God through our giving to St. Mark's.
Together in Christ’s Love,
Linda Palmer
Junior Warden
 © 2009 St. Mark's Church |