GIVE

Each fall the congregation is invited to make a financial commitment to the ministries of the coming year. A pledge is not a bill and it is not a contract. It is a statement of intention, and it is what allows the Vestry to build a responsible budget, to call and support staff, to care for our buildings, and to plan the formation, music and outreach of the parish with confidence rather than guesswork.

A pledge may be fulfilled weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually, by automatic draft, by check, or in the offering plate, whichever suits your household. It may also be adjusted at any time by writing to the parish office. If your circumstances change, please tell us; we would far rather revise a pledge than lose touch with a parishioner.

You may make a single gift or set up a recurring gift through Realm, the giving platform used by the parish. Signing in is not required in order to give. If you do choose to create an account, you will be able to see your own giving history, change your payment method, schedule future gifts and download your annual statement whenever you wish. You can click HERE to make a gift or setup a recurring gift.

There are many ways you can contribute to St. Francis.

• Give online, once or regularly: You may make a single gift or set up a recurring gift through Realm, the giving platform used by the parish. Signing in is not required in order to give. If you do choose to create an account, you will be able to see your own giving history, change your payment method, schedule future gifts and download your annual statement whenever you wish.

• By Check: Please make checks payable to St. Francis in-the-Field Episcopal Church and mail them to 895 Palm Valley Road, Ponte Vedra, Florida 32081. If the gift is intended for a particular purpose, a memorial, the flower guild, outreach, or the preschool, please write that purpose on the memo line so that it is credited correctly.

• In the offering plate: Cash and checks are received at the offertory at every service. Cash gifts cannot be credited to your giving record unless they are placed in an envelope marked with your name, so if you would like a cash gift recorded, please use one of the envelopes found in the pews.

Appreciated stock is often the most tax-efficient way to make a substantial gift, because the shares may be transferred to the parish without the capital gain being realized. Please contact the parish office before you initiate a transfer, so that we can give you the account details and, just as importantly, so that we know whose gift has arrived. Transfers reach churches with no donor name attached more often than anyone would expect, and a telephone call beforehand spares everyone the detective work afterward.

 When you call, please have ready your name, the name of the stock, the number of shares, and the purpose for which the gift is intended. Our Church Accountant will give you all the necessary information to pass along to your broker for the transfer.

If you hold a donor-advised fund, you may recommend a grant to St. Francis at any time. Your fund administrator will ask for the following.

• Legal name:  St. Francis in-the-Field Episcopal Church

• Mailing address:  895 Palm Valley Road, Ponte Vedra, Florida 32081

• Telephone:  904.615.2130

• TIN:  59-3685378

Please let the parish office know when you have recommended a grant, since donor-advised fund checks frequently arrive without the name of the donor attached.

Yes. Parishioners who have reached the age at which distributions from an individual retirement account are required may direct a qualified charitable distribution to St. Francis. For many households this is the most advantageous way to give, because the distribution goes to the parish without passing through taxable income.

 Because this is a matter of federal tax law rather than parish policy, and because the rules and the qualifying ages have changed more than once in recent years, please consult your own tax advisor about your particular situation. The parish office is glad to provide whatever documentation your custodian requires, and glad to be told when a distribution is on its way.

Yes. A gift to St. Francis is a fitting way to mark a life or an occasion. Gifts may be made in memory of someone who has died, or in thanksgiving for a birth, a baptism, a marriage, an anniversary or a recovery, in any amount and at any time of year.

 We will write to the person or family you name to tell them that a gift has been made in that name. The amount is never disclosed.

 Many families ask that memorial gifts be directed to St. Francis at the time of a death. The parish office is glad to supply wording for an obituary or a funeral bulletin, and glad to help you think about where such gifts might best be directed.

To remember St. Francis in your will is to provide for the congregation that will gather in this place long after us, in the same way that we have inherited a church we did not build. A bequest may take the form of a fixed sum, a percentage of an estate, or the remainder of a retirement account, and it may be directed to the general purposes of the parish or to a particular ministry that has mattered to you.

 If you have already made such a provision, or if you are considering it, we would be grateful to know. There is no obligation and nothing is made public. Telling us allows the Rector to thank you properly, and it allows the Vestry to plan for the future of the parish with a clearer view of what is coming. You can speak to Fr. Justin about this by setting up a time to visit with him HERE.

Yes. A gift must be received at the parish office, or postmarked, on or before the thirty-first of December in order to be credited to that tax year. Gifts arriving afterwards are recorded in the year they are received. We also send statements each quarter to help those who have setup regular gifts to reach their giving/pledge goal for the year.

 Annual giving statements are sent in January. If you have not received yours, or if anything on it looks wrong, please contact the parish office and we will look into it.

The parish office is glad to help with pledge questions, giving records, access to your Realm account, or any of the arrangements described above. There is no question too small, and nothing you ask will be repeated.

Please call the office and ask for our Church Accountant at 904.615.2130.