Stewardship Co-chair Sarah Dull writes: As Alice Lightner Johnson is rotating off of the Stewardship Committee, I asked her to write a reflection about her time serving in this ministry. I also want to take this moment to express my gratitude to her. She has been an amazing co-leader. I will miss her groundedness and inspiration. She has helped establish an effective model that will serve St. John’s well for years to come.
Stewardship Reflections
by Alice Lightner Johnson
Two years ago, I surprised myself by saying “yes” when Sarah Dull asked if I would act as the lay co-chair of the Stewardship Committee. In the fall of 2022 Covid was still very much a concern, the economy was wobbly, and most committees and ministries were meeting sporadically in person. I had been happy as a worker bee in the background for a few years, completing the necessary tasks and being a part of the team.
Accepting this new role meant stepping outside of my comfort zone, but I felt I was being called to give more to this ministry. By pushing myself into doing something I was unsure about, I found growth, fresh insights, new relationships, and an expanded appreciation for our St. John’s community.
We activated connection by having our ministries create short TikTok-type videos to showcase the work they were doing and remind our members of the impact that St. John’s was having within our walls and out in the broader community. The videos also helped draw new visitors to our website. It was wonderful to see such a positive wave of engagement those videos created.
Reflecting on my years on the committee, and particularly those as co-chair, I am mostly in awe of the resiliency and generosity of the people of St. John’s. It has been fulfilling to be part of an endeavor to communicate the important needs of the parish and have those needs met and fulfilled in such a substantial way.
We are so fortunate that in very uncertain economic times generous parishioners continued and expanded our matching gift program. This was a huge catalyst for the increases we saw over the last several years, especially with our new pledges. It is also inspiring to see more members contribute to the new matching gift fund, including our rector and his family, which will continue as an important foundation for all the campaigns to come.
Each year we began our Stewardship campaign with a short book study and reflection, which I always appreciated as it gave me some grounding and perspective on how to reach our pledge goals for the upcoming year. One of those readings related to trees and how their vitality and strength is only possibly because they support each other through their root systems. In a similar way, many individuals combine to create the success of our Stewardship campaigns: presenters at our formation sessions, witnesses who share their personal stories at services, and invitors who make many calls and connect with our members. The collective vitality we tap into with Stewardship will continue to reach and grow into an expanding canopy of God’s love.
I feel good in moving on from Stewardship and leaving it to build upon the accomplishments of the last couple of years. I look forward to seeing the new voices and visions that will continue the good work and successfully dovetail with the upcoming capital campaign. I see God shining through in everyone who has contributed to this place in their own way. Many thanks to the stalwart, brilliant and incomparable Sarah Dull. Her leadership made reaching our goals possible, and along with the Stewardship team of Lynn Hartman, George Kinkade, Dan Vogel, and Sean Farnhorst. It was a pleasure to share such great success with all of you.
I hope that my experiences inspire you to say “yes” when you are asked to do something that pushes you out of your comfort zone. I am confident you won’t regret it.
