Dear All Saints’,

As Christians we are story tellers. We have an ancient narrative, one that describes the beginning of time and the relationship between God and God’s Creation. We see this story grow through the prophetic tradition until our story recounts the life and gifts of the Son of God. But the story doesn’t end with the Resurrection just as it did not end with the Cross. It continues on in each of us today as we encounter and are transformed by the Good News.

Luke’s Gospel is bookended by the animated storytelling of two women named Mary. Early in the Gospel, Mary the mother of Jesus, tells us of her encounter with the Divine who informs her that she will bear a child who will change the world. She proclaims her joy: “Tell out my soul! The Greatness of the Lord!” At the end of the Gospel, another Mary, Mary Magdalene, visits the tomb to discover it empty and receives instructions from the Risen Christ to go tell the others. She carries this Good News with jubilance to the Disciples.

What is our story of the Good News? How are we sharing our story with the world? How does our story share the Good News of Christ? What is the story that we share with our neighbors? How can we share the story of our ideas, our dreams, and our hopes at All Saints’? How does our story best express the challenges placed in our hearts by God? How will the story of our ministry, to which we are being called, change the world? How will our talents, our gifts, and our love for each other shape the story of All Saints’? How do each of our stories give meaning to the story of All Saints’?

Our Stewardship Campaign this year focuses on these stories – the ones inside you, the ones you are still writing, the ones we tell about those who have gone before us. We are all a part of this ongoing narrative – the ongoing Creation. As you pray about how you will share your gifts with us this year, think about how God is calling you to tell out your soul, to spread the Good News far and wide. Hear the stories that we share weekly throughout the campaign that relate the creative spark in us with the ways in which we are called to serve God and love our neighbor.

Tell out my soul! The Greatness of the Lord!

Phillip+