Dear Friends,

Emmanuel has never been a place that just passively happens to you. It's a place you help build, Sunday by Sunday, concert by concert, coffee hour by coffee hour, act of care by act of care. That's true whether you found us last year or have been here for decades, whether you sit in Eccleston Chapel at 8:30 or the Main Church at 10:30. It's true because this community has always understood that faith is something we practice together, and community is something we create, and grow, together.

This autumn, we're asking you to help build Emmanuel in one more way: through your pledge to our 2027 operating budget.

As many of you may be aware, Emmanuel is fortunate to steward approximately $17 million in invested funds‚ the gift of generations who believed in this parish's future enough to leave part of themselves here. In 2026, that endowment funds just under 75% of our $1.1 million budget. On paper, that sounds like security. In practice, it's the opposite: a parish that depends on its endowment for everyday life is living on its inheritance rather than investing in its present and future. Drawing above a sustainable rate, year after year, spends down the very resource meant to carry Emmanuel's ministry to the queer kids, questioners, and seekers who'll need this place in 2040 and 2060 the way we needed it when we found it. It's time for Emmanuel's present to be funded by the people living it.

For 2027, our goal is $250,000 in giving from members and friends of Emmanuel. Achieving that level of support matters not just because of how it will relieve stress on the endowment, but because what we build together, we build to last.

To reach this goal, we need gifts of every size. The truth is that if everyone waited to give until they could give a "big" gift, campaigns like this wouldn't work. What will help us achieve our goal is having a broad base of members each give what's meaningful for them. What matters is participation, working together as a community to secure our present and our future.

Your gift, whatever its size, goes toward:

Deepening our spiritual life: worship, formation, music, and the sacramental life that holds us together

Increasing our community impact: the outreach, collaboration, and open-and-affirming presence that make Emmanuel a light in Mount Vernon and beyond

Investing in our present and future: fully funded programming, fair compensation for staff and clergy (including our new Curate) and care for a building that has sheltered us for generations

We're not asking you to pledge out of a sense of obligation. Rather, we're inviting you to join us in giving because Emmanuel is a community of people who take care of each other, and this is one more way we can do that. Please prayerfully consider what you can commit for 2027, and make your promise of support by October 26.

With gratitude and hope,

Your 2026-27 Stewardship Team

James Benjamin
Nick Cherone
Albert Di Vittorio
Mike Looney+
Kelly McConkey
Anne Marie Richards+
James Schmidt