“Be compassionate just as God is compassionate… Give, and it will be given to you.” —Luke 6:36-38
Our stewardship theme this year calls us to compassion and generosity — two essential parts of the spiritual life, two vital ways that we express the image of God in relationship to one another and the world. Stewardship is how we tend and share the good gifts God has given us- both personally and as a community.
In this season, we ask you to be a compassionate and generous steward of the Church of the Ascension. Please pray about and ponder the ways that Ascension makes a difference in your life, and about how you can offer your resources — money, energy, talent and time — to help sustain our parish. How can your compassion and generosity deepen and enlarge Ascension’s worship, community and witness?
We really need you. Our parish leadership is working hard to develop new revenue sources to fund our liturgy, programs, staff and building as well as paying careful attention to expenses. We have a serious deficit, and we cannot rely on our endowment income to make up deficits in the way we once did. We have set a goal of $400,000 for pledge income in 2025 — a healthy stretch beyond the pledged amount for this past year.
I hope that everyone who is part of the Ascension community will make a commitment to contribute to our parish budget for 2025. I also hope that if you can, you will join me in increasing your pledge to our church for this year. In doing so, may you find your heart stretched to greater compassion, and your generosity blessed. And may Ascension be strengthened to share God’s love with our neighborhood and our world.
Thank you very much.
The Reverend Elizabeth G. Maxwell, Rector
Please join us in supporting Church of the Ascension! What you pledge to give today will help us plan for tomorrow. If we give what we can, we will continue to receive all that Church of the Ascension has to offer including our inspiring worship, programming, and community — and Ascension will continue to be a witness to God’s love, justice and hope for the world.
Why does Ascension need my pledge?
- It costs about $3,800 a day to keep Ascension open. Our clergy and staff work hard to provide all that you love about Ascension including our worship, music, and programming. Behind the scenes, our clergy provide pastoral care and our staff manages our buildings and day-to-day operations.
- Our buildings are very beautiful and very old. Keeping them both functional and beautiful requires constant maintenance and renovation, some of which is very expensive.
- We need to increase our pledge income to secure our financial future. Currently, a substantial drawdown of income from our endowment is necessary to cover our operating expenses. We should not draw down more than 5%, the financially prudent standard, but we need your support.
- Are you giving frequently to the plate on Sundays? Consider pledging! While we welcome plate offerings, they vary, and Ascension cannot plan a budget based on them. And if you are renewing your pledge, please consider increasing it to help us meet our goal this year!
Give, and it will be given to you
- If you worship with us in person or online, you are invited to join us in supporting our communal life at Ascension.
- Giving does not only mean giving money! We welcome your ideas, talents and participation in our ongoing activities. (Call the Parish Office at 212-254-8620 to learn of opportunities for participation).
Payment options:
- You can pay online right here on our website! Just go to ascensionnyc.org/give. You can also pay online via the Abundant platform. Visit abundant.co/ascensionnyc/give. Or download the Abundant app for iPhone or Android. Whichever route you choose, set up an account with an e-mail and password, then select an amount, frequency, and “Stewardship Pledge 2025” as the fund to contribute to.
If your pledge for 2024 is to be paid by recurring payments, e.g. monthly, please make sure to indicate a start date for payments. If you include an ending date, you will need to create a new recurring payment for the next pledge year. Even if you don’t include an end date, you should still update your recurring gift to apply it toward “Stewardship Pledge 2025” with your new pledge amount by selecting “Scheduled Gifts” under your name, and then choosing “Edit” next to your payment information, as shown below. Call the church if you have questions.
OR
- Pay your pledge by check placed in traditional weekly envelopes that will be mailed to you if you check that box on the pledge form.
OR
- Pay your pledge with your credit or debit card by checking the box to have the bookkeeper contact you for your credit card information, so that your card can be charged at regular intervals throughout the year. (Please consider covering the small usage fees for credit/debit card payments or Ascension will need to pay them.)
OR
- Pay on your own schedule using Zelle at our email: info@ascensionnyc.org.
Pledge Form for 2025
Stewardship Calendar
Distribution of Pledge Cards: October 13, 2024 You should have received a pledge card and information in the mail. (It includes the same information found on this web page and the online pledge form above.)
Harvest Dinner: November 14, 2024 We will celebrate our life together as a community. In addition to a fabulous dinner, there will be a speaker about Ascension in the Gilded Age.
Blessing of Pledges: November 24, 2024 We aim to gather pledges from everyone by this date for blessing at the 11 am service.
