Sharing our visits with parishioners
As our Giving for Growth ambassadors make their way through 2024 visiting our parishioners, we’re finding that our visits are mutually encouraging and inspiring. With your participation in meeting with our ambassadors, our vision for sustained growth becomes more and more possible. Together, we are developing St. Clement’s future with your generous donations, your deep and discerning faith and the commitment we share to our parish community.
We would like to share about a couple of recent parishioner visits with one of our ambassadors, Margie Pacini.
As Christians we are encouraged to grow in our faith, and at St. Clement’s we come together in a variety of ways. Since I stepped up last fall to be one of a team of ‘Ambassadors,’ I have had the pleasure of sitting down and visiting with both familiar and unfamiliar parishioners. In doing so, I have developed a new appreciation for the depth of our community, and for the different ways in which members are, or would like to be, engaged.
If, as the Christian doctrine teaches us, we are made in God’s image, I find myself sometimes wondering what that image is supposed to look like. These visits have broadened my understanding of this question. I have a couple of examples I’d like to share with you. Each speaks to our faith in action and the breadth and depth of our community that I have found inspiring on so many levels.
The visit I had recently along with a fellow ambassador was a “cold call,” in that we did not recognize the name of the person we were visiting. The door opened, and to my surprise and delight I immediately recognized the parishioner, although we had never had the pleasure of meeting. We received a warm welcome and one of his children came down the stairs to say hi! As a parent who cares deeply for his children and his faith, he brings them to St. Clement’s when their family schedule permits. The children feel very comfortable in the Sunday School program, and they enjoy meeting up with a few good buddies. Their dad feels grateful for the nourishment and support their family has received from being part of the parish community. He was very interested in learning all about the goals of the campaign.
Another visit took us to meet a couple who have relocated to a retirement community. We were warmly greeted, and treated to a wonderful tour of both the entire residence and their lovely apartment before sitting down to casual conversation, including an overview of the campaign. The husband shared about his lifelong love of liturgy and choral music. Though unable to travel to church regularly, due to limited mobility, he enjoys participating in worship online each week. His wife, on the other hand, makes it to church on occasional Sundays, enjoying the opportunity to see long-time friends. Both spoke with enthusiasm of how meaningful they find their ongoing connection to the parish.
In every visit I have seen God at work in the lives of others, and I feel that God is at work in my life providing me with a stronger sense of community engagement at St. Clements. On behalf of all the Ambassadors, thank you to all those whom we have visited. We look forward to visiting with more of you in the months ahead.
Margie Pacini
Ambassador, Giving for Growth Campaign
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