The 2027 Annual Giving Campaign
St. Francis in-the-Field Episcopal Church
Ingathering Sunday is November 8, 2026.
A word from the Vestry and the Rector
Dear friends,
Before the leaves in this field so much as think about turning, we want to put a single verse in your hands. “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:19). God spoke those words to a people who had stopped expecting anything new, and we have come to believe he is speaking them to us.
Look around on a Sunday morning. Three services where there were two. Children spilling out of rooms built for fewer. A school taking shape on ground that sat quiet for a generation. None of it was our plan, and all of it, we are convinced, is God’s.
This is the first word of our annual giving campaign for 2027, and we have kept it short on purpose. We are not asking you to decide today. We are asking you to pray over it in the weeks ahead, and to make your pledge by Ingathering Sunday, November 8, 2026, when we will lay our pledges on the altar at all three services.
Something new is springing forth among us. Thank you for tending it with us.
Faithfully yours in Christ,
- Mr. Milt BauerSenior Warden
- Mrs. Caz WedelTreasurer
- The Rev. Justin YawnRector
Where we are headed
A new thing, tended together.
The Vestry and the Rector have set a pledge goal of $850,000 for 2027. It is a step forward, and it is within reach, because it asks a little of many rather than a great deal of a few.
The 2027 pledge goal
The additional weekly gift, per pledging household, that would carry us there
Ingathering Sunday, when pledges are laid on the altar at all three services
What your pledge makes possible
Pledged giving supplies a little more than half of everything St. Francis does in a year, beginning with the people who lead it: the clergy who preach and visit, the musicians who carry our worship, the leaders of our family and youth ministries, those who staff the nursery and the parish office, and those who keep the buildings and grounds.
It is what opens Field Life Kids, Crew, and Nursery to every child who arrives, sustains three Sunday services, and funds the parish’s tithe to the Diocese of Florida and its outreach partners. When pledges are in hand, the Vestry can plan the year with confidence rather than guesswork.
The arithmetic of a step forward
In 2026, 194 households pledged a combined $730,719, an average of about $3,767 each. If those same households were to add roughly $12 a week to their pledges, the parish would reach its goal.
If thirty-two households pledged for the first time at the current average, the same would be true. Most likely it will be some of both: many hands, none of them alone.
Three ways to pledge
However it suits your household.
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1
Pledge online
The quickest way, and the easiest for the parish office to record. Open the 2027 pledge form.
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2
Bring your card to worship
Pledge cards arrive by mail and are available in the narthex. Bring yours forward on Ingathering Sunday, November 8, 2026, when our pledges are blessed at the altar at all three services.
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3
Mail your card
Use the return envelope provided, or send your card to the parish office at 895 Palm Valley Road, Ponte Vedra, FL 32081.
The Field Guide, Stewardship Edition
The fuller story, in print and here.
The Stewardship Edition of The Field Guide arrives by mail in mid October, carrying what your giving has already made possible, where the parish is headed, and what it will take to get there. It will be posted on this page as soon as it is in hand.
What is ahead
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October 4, 2026
The campaign opens in worship on the Feast of St. Francis.
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Mid October
The Stewardship Edition of The Field Guide arrives by mail.
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November 8, 2026
Ingathering Sunday. Pledges are blessed at the altar at all three services.
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Late Fall
The Vestry adopts the 2027 budget, shaped by your pledges.