Plenty Good Room
Members of Saint John's, in their own words, on what this parish has given them.
Stewardship at Saint John's
Stewardship season is the time of year when we talk about pledge cards. But the pledge card is the last step, not the first one.
The first step is noticing what we have already been given. A sacred space where burdens get lighter. A community that shows up with meals and prayers and rides. A calling that sends us out onto Prospect Street and into Hagerstown with something to offer. Everything on this page is one member's account of receiving one of those gifts.
Watch a few of them. Then consider your own answer to the question these members were really asking, which is not how much, but why.
"Once Saint John's takes you in, it doesn't let go." Pieter Bickford · Watch Pieter's story
Three Ways to Give
Our pledge card asks about all three, and it asks in this order for a reason.
Time
Time is more than Sunday morning. It is the quiet prayer, the scripture read on a weekday, the hour spent setting up for an event, the garden weeded, the small task in an old building that someone has to notice and do.
Talent
Talent begins with an honest question: what am I good at, and how could that serve this community? When you offer it, you are not filling a vacancy. You are bringing a part of who you are into the life of this parish.
Treasure
A financial pledge keeps the lights on, the roof sound, the doors open, and the outreach going. It is also a spiritual discipline, a way of saying that what we have was given to us first.
"I learned to be satisfied with what was provided. Now that God has given me much, now it's easy to be generous."
Robin Spickler
Voices of Saint John's
This fall, members are once again sharing their stories on Sunday mornings. A choir member who has belonged to Saint John's for all of her seventy two years. A former boy soprano whose preschool this parish once paid for. A member baptized here in 1968 who still calls it home. And our rector, on who we are really giving to. New stories are added as they are recorded.
Each story is below with a short summary and the video. Start anywhere.
"I didn't find the church. It found me."
Robin Spickler
Lifelong member and choir member, on a church that found her first
About 8 minutes
Robin Spickler has belonged to Saint John's for all of her seventy two years. She was baptized and married here, has sung in the choir for as long as she can remember, and watched her daughter be baptized and married here too. Now her son-in-law and three grandsons are finding the same joy. Robin opened this fall's series by naming the plain need (utility bills, supplies, salaries) and then turning to the heart of it: giving is for the giver. Growing up one of five children without much money taught her to be satisfied with what was provided, and she asks each of us to pray about God's giving goals for us, and to name what keeps us from being generous.
"This church invested in me before I could understand it. Giving back is how I say thank you and how I keep the door open for whoever comes next."
Pieter Bickford
Lifelong member, on a gift he was too young to understand
About 8 minutes
Pieter Bickford's life at Saint John's began with a scholarship. When money was tight for his mother, the parish gave him a full scholarship to its preschool, and he never really left. He sang as a boy soprano in the children's choir, was baptized on Easter Sunday by the bishop, played nearly every role in the Christmas pageant, and years later came home with his wife and daughter, so three generations of his family have been held by this one place. He closes with two questions for all of us: when has Saint John's been there for you, and how will you help be there for the next person?
"Stewardship is our tangible yes to God's work among us."
Susan Lewis
Baptized here in 1968, on a lifetime of coming home
About 6 minutes
Susan Lewis's family first walked through these doors in 1960, and she was baptized here as an infant. She grew up in the children's choirs, the youth group, the Christmas pageant, and the acolyte procession, and she carried Saint John's with her to college and beyond. It has always felt like coming home. Today she serves on the Minister of Music search committee and helps with service and outreach projects. She describes our pledges as what keep this historic parish alive: the music, the open doors, and ministries like Micah's Backpack that carry Christ's love out into Hagerstown and beyond.
"When you look around you, you see who you're giving to."
Father Rick Swanson
Rector, on who we are really giving to
About 5 minutes
Father Rick's reflection begins with one Greek word, ecclesia, the word Paul uses for the church. We tend to hear "the church" as clergy, parish leaders, an institution, or a building. But Paul was writing to people, and only to people. So when a letter arrives from the church asking us to consider our giving, Fr. Rick says, we are not being asked to give to a budget, a building, or a person. Look around: the people beside you are who you are giving to. Stewardship, in his telling, is loving and holding one another, and becoming together the hope we are called to be.
From Previous Years
Seven members spoke during last year's campaign. Their stories still hold.
"The heart of stewardship is not about what we have to give. It's about recognizing the abundance that we've already been given and how we're going to respond to that."
David McKinley
Choir member since 2000, on comfort, community, and calling
About 7 minutes
David McKinley moves the conversation away from money as the starting point and toward the question behind it, which is why we give at all. Drawing on twenty five years at Saint John's, which began when he answered a newspaper ad because the choir needed basses, he names three things the parish has given him: comfort, community, and calling. He then walks through the three pillars named on the pledge card, and closes by asking us to consider the whole picture, so that all three endure for those who come after.
"One of the reasons that I love Saint John's so much is that I feel like I belong here. I bet a lot of you feel like you belong here, too."
Stephny Lietuvnikas
Welcoming and stewardship and finance commissions, on belonging
About 6 minutes
Stephny Lietuvnikas came to Saint John's in 2009 with a three year old, on a Sunday when the heat was out and the whole congregation sat in folding chairs. She stayed because of the welcome: Will Godwin came straight over, Betty Merkel handed her daughter a cookie, and Charlie Cheney waved as though they were already friends. That memory is why she said yes to the welcoming commission years later, and why she serves on stewardship and finance now.
"I said, 'Well, I really don't know anyone.' And she said, 'You will.'"
Lauri Ricker
Member since 2017, on the one yes that started everything
About 5 minutes
After twenty seven years as a minister's wife, Lauri Ricker arrived at Saint John's with a firm plan to sit down, worship, and go home without getting involved. The plan lasted until Deanna Solless asked her to join the welcoming commission and answered every objection in turn. One yes led to friendships, Micah's Backpack, welcome bouquets, Christmas boxes, dinners, and receptions. She calls it a spark, and she believes everyone has one.
"Ryland, in true form, clapped his little hands and said, 'I did it.' The entire church erupted in laughter and applause. My reaction was, this is a great church. They love children."
Carol Cox
Service and outreach commission, on being fed in the hardest season
About 6 minutes
Carol Cox first came to Saint John's for a grandson's baptism and stayed because of what happened next. When another grandson was born with a rare condition and spent his short life at Johns Hopkins, this parish fed her family through Martha's Table, asked after them every Sunday, and kept checking in long into the grieving process. She now leads Martha's Table herself, because she knows firsthand what that support meant.
"When we talk about stewardship, we're not just talking about keeping the lights on. We're talking about keeping the lights in."
Tammy Martinez
Member for twelve years, on gratitude instead of guilt
About 4 minutes
Tammy Martinez traces a path from a Pentecostal pew, through Saint James, to Saint John's twelve years ago, where her family found a home and a wedding. The music changed along the way, she says, but the worship did not. She reframes stewardship as gratitude passed along rather than an obligation discharged, and asks two honest questions: where have I seen God's love at work here, and how can I help it grow.
"History doesn't repeat itself. It echoes."
Dan Meyer
Chair, Stewardship and Finance Commission, on the building as inheritance
About 12 minutes
Dan Meyer makes the case for the part of stewardship that is easiest to forget, which is the bricks and mortar. The building is a vehicle for worship, he argues, and it exists only because of the stewardship of those who came before. He reads the parish's history off its own walls, through the reredos, the memorials, and the windows, and asks what the stones will say to the congregations that follow.
"They see me serving and talk to me at coffee hour. This makes me feel like an important member of the church."
Kellan Dowe
Acolyte, on what this parish looks like to a young member
About 2 minutes
Kellan Dowe speaks as a young member. His family came to Saint John's in 2023 and he serves as an acolyte, which he likes because it lets him take an active part in worship and because the congregation talks with him at coffee hour. What stands out to him is how much this parish does: Micah's Backpack several times a school year, the REACH cold weather shelter his mother volunteers with, and causes he says plainly are worth supporting.
"I invite you to pray about how you can support our shared mission this coming year, so that our sending out remains as strong as our gathering in." Susan Lewis · Watch Susan's story
What Your Giving Makes Possible
Every ministry listed here was named by one of the members above, because these are the things people notice when they are asked what this parish actually does.
- Micah's Backpack, food sent home with children who need it, packed several times each school year.
- Pantry on the Go, food distributed out in the community.
- Martha's Table, meals delivered to parishioners in crisis, illness, and grief.
- REACH cold weather shelter, hosted and staffed by volunteers from this parish.
- Summer meals, including the week this parish fed more than a hundred families five meals each when the children's summer meals program paused.
- Christmas boxes and shoe boxes, assembled and delivered each year.
- Music and the choir, which has drawn people through these doors for decades.
- Fabric and grounds, the roof, the flashing, the gardens, the cemetery, and every small repair in a historic building.
- Pastoral care, the Daughters of the King, and the caregivers support group, the quiet ministries that show up when someone is hurting.
- Welcome, the first ninety seconds that decide whether a visitor comes back.
Every dollar given goes to work in one of these places, plus the building, the utilities, the music, and the staff who hold it all together.
Give
You can give online at any time, and you can schedule a recurring gift, weekly, monthly, or on the schedule that fits your household. Recurring giving is the single most helpful thing a household can do, because it keeps the parish's income steady through the slow months of the year.
You can also continue giving by check or in the plate.
Pledge cards and this year's stewardship campaign materials are coming this fall.
Questions People Ask
Why pledge instead of just giving?
A pledge is an estimate of what you intend to give over the year. It is not a contract, and it can be changed at any time by calling the parish office. Knowing what to expect is what lets the vestry plan honestly rather than guess.
How much should I give?
That is between you and God. Many members work toward a proportion of income and increase it gradually. If it would help to talk it through with someone, the Stewardship and Finance Commission is glad to do that in confidence.
What if my situation changes?
Tell us and we will adjust it. No explanation required.
What is the difference between pledging and giving online?
Pledging tells us what to expect for the year, which is what the budget is built on. Giving online is how the money arrives. Many members do both: they turn in a card in the fall, then set up a recurring gift that matches it.
Can I set up automatic giving?
Yes. Choose Recurring on the giving page, pick your amount, your frequency, and a start date, and it runs on its own. You can change or stop it at any time.
Can I give to a specific fund?
Yes. Alongside General Operating, the giving page carries the All Saints Memorial Fund, the Assistant Rector Endowment, Episcopal Relief and Development, Music at Saint John's, the Rector's Discretionary Account, St. John's Family Shelter, the Unrestricted Endowment Fund, and Historic Properties. A gift to General Operating is what supports the day to day life of the parish, including most of the ministries described above.
Does time or talent count if I can't give money this year?
Yes. The pledge card asks about all three for a reason, and every member on this page began with something other than a check.
Questions about giving or stewardship: the parish office, secretary.stjohns@myactv.net, (301) 733-2560.
Saint John's Episcopal Church · 101 South Prospect Street · Hagerstown, MD 21740