Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering

and sacrifice to God. — Ephesians 5:1–2, NRSV

A Message of Welcome from

The Cathedral Stewardship Chair & Treasurer


Dear Cherished St. Luke's Community Member,


Thank you for opting to receive online stewardship materials during this 2025 Stewardship Season. By choosing to use online resources, you are helping to conserve physical materials in efforts to be eco-friendly as was so eloquently discussed this past month during our celebration of The Season of Creation.


We hope that the resources provided in this email are helpful and give you an authentic and welcoming experience.


If you at any point need to access a physical copy of any of the resources listed below, please contact the parish office via email and our administrator would be glad to assist you.


I am grateful to have been asked to lead our Stewardship Campaign this year and to spend these weeks with intention as we enter a season of giving.

 

Our theme this year is Walk in Love, and it calls us to remember that our greatest gift in community is how we align, come together in purpose and mission. When we walk in the same direction, we can do so many things.

 

During this season we talk a lot about money, about our budget. Yes, those things are important, they are the way we fund the Church, but our real focus is on what our gifts can do for the world. Jesus calls us to heal, visit, feed, accompany, protect, advocate, love our neighbor -- and sharing our time, talent, and treasure is the way that we make this happen.

 

Each of us hears this call differently, just as each of us has been blessed by God differently. Our talents and training have been gifts freely given to us in Creation so that we may share them with a world in need. How will you respond to God’s call to walk in love this year? How will you determine how you will share your gifts with God’s people in the world?

 

With this letter you are receiving the invitation to make your promise to the Church for the year to come. Before you fill it out, I ask that you pray about it, discuss it with your family, and discern how God is calling you to share your gifts.

 

Below this letter you will notice a photograph of the labyrinth at the cathedral. Each day, the labyrinth offers members of our extended community the opportunity to experience a walk in deeper faith and love. Our labyrinth, alongside so many other impactful offerings and ministries at work at St. Luke’s, serve as a testament to the amazing gifts we have to give unto others when we join together as one cathedral community.

 

Just as our labyrinth invites us to walk with intention, a sense of grounding, and openness of spirit, I invite you to use these same guiding principles as you reflect on what you can offer during this 2025 Stewardship Season.

 

We will have our Stewardship Ingathering on December 1st during the 10:00AM service in the Nave.


Please return your answer to us by then if possible so that we may count your pledge in our ingathering where your gift will be added to many others to be blessed, broken, and shared with the world.

 

If there is anything I can do to support you or questions I can answer, please do not hesitate to reach out. I can be best reached via email.

 

Walking with you in Love,


Randi Hogan

The Labyrinth at the Cathedral

"The Gospel invites us to walk in love with our neighbors in their footsteps, with the outcast and the marginalized, with those who need us. As we spread the Good News in our world, we carry the love and support of our congregation and our prayers into our communities. When you share your many gifts with your neighbors, every step is walking in love."


Stewardship 2025 Resources

A Letter From the Reverend George Stevens, Interim Dean

A Letter From the Wardens of the Lesser Chapter

2025 Online Pledge Form

Downloadable Physical Pledge Card

Lesser Chapter Generosity Declaration

Stewardship 2025 Page on

St. Luke's Website



A Letter from The Reverend George Stevens,

Interim Dean

Dear Friends, 


A few weeks ago, I preached a sermon about ‘the Journey’ of following Jesus as a way of describing how our relationships with God and one another change over time. Generosity is also a journey. It’s a practice that changes over time as we learn and nurture within our hearts. For many of us, it isn’t natural to give away what we have worked hard to acquire or donate our precious time without compensation. It takes something as radical as Love to inspire us to share our time, talent and treasure. This is a journey we make together, a Walk in Love.  


Over the last few months, our weekly lectionary has traveled through the Gospel of Mark. In this walk with Jesus through the Gospel of Mark, we’ve been brought into a world turned radically upside down. The laws and customs that had been in place for centuries were challenged, power and dominion have been questioned, and a culture hemmed in from all sides by oppression and subjection desperately seeks a way forward. 


As it turns out, it is not clever politics or force that cause the change in society, but the simplest concept of Love. Jesus causes a revolution of thought and heart by daring to reach out to the outcast and teach others to do the same. He walks in love with the marginalized, with the poor, with the sick, and brings us along with him on his journey. 


The most miraculous gift of Love is that it was there within us all along, all we had to do was find it, tap into it, and begin growing it. And look what happened? We learned to share, to give, to volunteer, to accompany others, to feed, to pray, to visit, to strive for change. 


This year as our Stewardship Campaign kicks off, we will be intentionally raising up stories of how we Walk in Love with each other in our congregation.


I invite you to share your stories of inspiration and connection with our shared ministry in this place and with each other.


I invite you to Walk in Love.


Blessings on the Journey!

The Reverend George R. Stevens, Interim Dean



A Letter from the Wardens of the Lesser Chapter

Dear Friends,


We write to you today in preparation for our annual stewardship campaign. This year our theme is entitled ‘Walk in Love’. As wardens of your Lesser Chapter, we invite you to join us into a time of prayer and reflection surrounding this theme and the journey that each of us makes as part of our cathedral community – our spiritual home. As part of the St. Luke’s community each one of us serves as a companion to one another as we navigate the ups and downs of our shared lives. This is a walk of love that we make together each and every day.


Throughout this year we have been inspired by the ways in which we support each other in life’s journey, both as individuals, and as a larger church family. We have faced the reality of past events that have led to discord. We have worked hard to educate ourselves about effective communication and participated in activities to exercise new skills as we prepare to search for our next dean. Taking these steps exemplifies being in community with each other; this is what walking in love looks like.


We are blessed with so many gifts to share. Members of our community offer their gifts of time, talent, and treasure, which are freely given to support our ministries working hand-in-hand to support the work of mission in our neighborhoods and communities. We do this not out of a sense that we will get back what we give, but because we are motivated by love. When Paul wrote to his friends in the Church at Ephesus, he reminded them that the very spark of love that founded their community of faith was one of giving. God showed God’s love for humanity by giving us a part of the Divine.


When we place our gifts on the altar – we bring our whole selves and share the best part of our love and labor. As you consider what you will share with the Church this year, we invite you to give thanks for the many people who have walked with you in love, supported you in your faith, and shared their gifts with you.


Walking with you in Love,



Sam Allen

Senior Warden


Jamie Cough

Junior Warden


Lesser Chapter Generosity Declaration

Adopted September 2023

WE BELIEVE

●   In a generous, loving, and self-giving God;

●   All that we are and all that we have comes from God;

●   God has been generous to us so that we can be generous to others;

●    We are a society challenged by addictive, self-destructive relationships with money and possessions;

●    Christ longs to set us free from this bondage and restore us to life-giving relationships with God, one another, and creation.

 

WE COMMIT OURSELVES TO

●   Staying close to Jesus, who is the one who revitalizes and transforms us;

●   Discerning God’s will for our lives through the holy habits of daily prayer, study, weekly worship, observing the Sabbath, tithing, and other intentional spiritual practices;

●  Living enthusiastically, sharing ourselves and our gifts from God to be instruments of God’s reconciling love in the world;

●    Giving to God the first portion of our time, talent, and all our resources — not merely the leftovers.

 

WE PLEDGE OURSELVES

To dare to imagine, initiate, and create personal and corporate ministries that can be outward and visible signs of God’s kingdom on earth.



WE INVITE

Our church family to join us in this lifelong, joyful, transforming, and liberating response to God’s call to us.

 

* Adapted from the Standing Commission on Stewardship and Development, Report to the 75th General Episcopal Convention and the Episcopal Diocese of Washington

stlukesportland.org


(207)-772-5434



Email


Physical Address:

143 State Street, Portland, ME 04101


Parking Available at:

134 Park Street, Portland, ME 04101


Mailing Address:

P.O. Box 4141, Portland, ME 04101