Pastoral note, from Garrett
Did you see the before and after pictures of Zilker Park in Austin where the Austin City Limits music festival was held this weekend? Zilker was a lush park filled with green grass. But after 200,000 people trampled over it in the rain all weekend, it’s now a mud pit.
Even though it didn’t rain Sunday night, our grounds were still saturated with the rains of the past few days. So I’m glad we didn’t try to have a mudfest picnic. And I know Ramiro is glad. Right now, we are just hoping and praying that all our friends with COVID and the flu are recovering. Besides 2020, this is the first time we’ve ever had to cancel the picnic. The rains have always held off. But rain AND illness were too much for us. Next year will be extra special.
Saturday was a day of justice and compassion. A group of us from Woodland joined in on the march against the proposed detention center on the Eastside of San Antonio. Another group helped to build a habitat house. At church we celebrated the wedding of John and Gail Whisler. Then Saturday night, the Wilkes hosted a San Antonio Food Bank event for families with children. The Food Bank CEO, Eric Cooper, talked to the kids about hunger and how we can partner together to feed people in our community.
This week the Cue Choral Ambassadors will have a concert on Sunday at 4 p.m. in the Sanctuary. Come enjoy some wonderful music. The Choral Ambassadors will also be with us on Sunday morning.
The finance committee is still finalizing the 2027 budget. If you remember, last year we began the process of right-sizing our budget. We felt our budget had been too high for the past 2-3 years, and we wanted to align it more closely with our giving. This year we are continuing that right-sizing. We hope to set the 2027 budget at about 5-6% above last year's offerings. That would give us a healthy goal to shoot for. We hope to get this budget to you by Sunday.
We still have time to meet our budget goals this year. I hope you will review your giving and make sure it is where you hoped it would be. Last week I sent a “Kickstarter” email to help us think about our financial stewardship. Kickstarter is a website that helps people raise money to bring creative projects to life. Instead of getting a bank loan or finding a wealthy investor, you ask lots of people to contribute smaller amounts toward a fundraising goal. That’s a lot like how Baptist churches work.
Baptist churches like ours are self-funded institutions— we pool our resources to make possible what none of us could accomplish alone. But unlike a Kickstarter campaign, our goal isn't simply to produce something and deliver it to our supporters. We're funding an ongoing work of creation—and we're all invited to participate in bringing it to life.
Your generosity makes it possible for Woodland to continue creating a sacred community of belonging.
Grace and peace,
Garrett Vickrey