We are deeply honored to be the wardens of this parish at this exciting time of renewal in our 216-year history. Zack is an exceptional Rector to work alongside, and we are grateful every day for his leadership. He, Amy, Rowan and Ezra are each a gift to our parish. We are also fortunate to be part of a focused and caring vestry. And every day the tireless efforts of our amazing and hard-working staff ensure the parish thrives. We feel fully supported too by each of you and the generosity of the gifts you share that continues to place St. James’ at the top of the stewardship list within the diocese of New York and as a leader within the Episcopal Church.
We ended 2025 with total contributions of $2,930,404—a high mark for our parish and just $169,596 short of our ambitious stewardship goal of $3,100,000. We want to recognize and thank the parish for the myriad of other ways you gave last year: 174 parishioners made contributions to the Clergy Discretionary Fund, our Altar Guild received 270 donations for the memorial flowers that adorn the church at Easter and Christmas and 90 winter sweaters were purchased and donated this past Christmas for the guests of our two meal programs in our Share the Warmth drive. Your abundant generosity is both recognized and greatly appreciated.
Turning our focus to the current year, as of January 31, we have received commitments and gifts from 380 parishioners totaling an impressive $2,315M. Most encouraging is that 27%, or 102 of the 380 donors are newcomers! That is extraordinary! We also want to thank our Vestry Officer for Stewardship, Nancy Murray, for her steadfast dedication and her creativity, time, and talent she volunteers to our benefit, and to our Stewardship Coordinator, Kristin Hardwick and our Accounting Manager, Cathy McAleer for their valuable administrative support. If you have not yet made your 2026 commitment, or completed fulfilling your 2025 commitment, please know that by doing so you are giving a great gift to our parish. In the hope of inspiring you, we want to quote from our Rector’s introduction to the stewardship campaign last October which he aptly titled Holy Persistence:
Each of our pledges joins us to generations before us who insisted this corner of the world needed a community pointing toward God’s dream. They could not have imagined us, or our times, but they trusted that the Holy Spirit would keep raising up people to carry the Gospel forward. Now it is our turn to ensure St. James’ can keep bearing witness to Jesus Christ’s transforming love for generations we will never meet. Every pledge declares that God’s kingdom is breaking in, even now, especially here. Every gift proclaims: the Gospel matters here, now.
If you have not yet joined us this year and would like to, [here is] information about how to make a commitment or to fulfill your pledge for last year [select “2025 Commitment Fund” from the dropdown].
We also want to encourage you to attend the Treasurer’s Report on the 2026 budget at the Forum on Sunday, February 22 at 10:15 a.m. in Coburn Hall where we will offer detailed information about our finances and our progress on what has been a three-year plan by the vestry to bring down our endowment draw. Our terrific treasurer, Nina Huffman, will present and lead the discussion that day.
Again, we could not be more grateful for and appreciative of your generosity. It makes possible our ministries and mission to serve Christ in all persons. Thank you so very much for saying yes!
Missy Condo & Richard Brown
Wardens
