On the evening of Wednesday, March 21, the last three choir members leaving after practice noticed that our Chapel was still open. Going in to lock up, they encountered a young man with a back-pack.    He was sitting in the aisle, and was just finishing a note. With conversational pleasantries, he folded the note, rose, handed it over, and went on his way. len brought the note home. I opened it, and out fell a single dollar-bill. The note read: 
    "My offering. I know that this is an inconsiderably small amount, but I'm giving what I can. It is also my way of giving back what I took from Society. I hope I'm doing the right thing. God bless."
     I was deeply moved, humbled, and honored. If you were here for worship on Sunday, March 25, you will (I hope!) remember that this note and $1 offering became the sermon for that day, the Gospel text being the "Prodigal Son" parable. In that sermon, I announced two things:  (1) we will have a new initiative to support an outreach ministry (as of yet undefined), which will begin with that $1 offering, and (2) we are going to celebrate that note and dollar bill by framing them in a "BIG" way and hanging ---this display prominently in the parish hall. My hope is that this offering--what it is and what it represents (the literal words, the heart behind those words, the quite sacrificial monetary offering, etc.)--will continue to shape our self-understanding and our ministry here for generations to come. 
     Re: (1). Fr. Gene will begin assessing needs in the community and will brainstorm with our Outreach Committee. You will hear all about that when the time comes. 
     Re:  (2). The note and dollar are now at the frame shop! However, there is a real problem, as I also announced in that sermon. We have no money available in our operating funds to pay for the framing! As you might expect, that work will be expensive. THE DEAL IS THIS: in your response to that Gospel parable (Luke 15:11-32), and in your commitment that All Saints' will be a place shaped by offering ministry to people who are on the edges (at best), YOU are going to pay for the framing (please)! You can do this with designated gifts [to the Rector's Discretionary Fund]. Consider that your gift should reflect proportionately for you what that precious dollar-bill meant to our visitor. We will accept donations until May 18. Any amount of money collected over the actual cost of the framing [let's face it, there should be a whole lot!] will be used to purchase special dinner-food for residents at the Salvation Army's overnight shelter, the Red Shield Lodge. 
     Then, to honor our anonymous friend's act of faith--placed in us as God's presence here in the world--we will mount a special outreach effort to help people in need. Whether we reach people who are on the streets, or who are trying to rehabilitate a criminal past, or who are trying to pick up the pieces of a broken life--whatever we end up doing--we will live up to his hope that he did "the right thing." I am confident that he did. So now, it's up to you to do the right thing. 
                                               In Christ      SSJ⁺

[Unconvinced? Need a reminder or a little motivation? Check out an audiocassette tape of the sermon from the office!]