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A stewardship letter from Fr. Ben and Fr. Matt
Dear siblings in Christ at The Table,
Despite warmer-than-usual temperatures for this time of year, we’re hopeful for the return of fire pit weather soon in Indiana. As the final quarter of the year begins, we’re writing to ask you to take time over the next month or so to sincerely pray about making a stewardship pledge of your time, talent, and treasure to participate in the common life and mission of The Table in 2026.
(Please make sure to read to the end, too–we know it’s on the longer side, but there’s a lot to communicate!–because we’d like your feedback and interest on some lay ministry areas of need in the coming year!)
As we begin to think about our life together in God’s love in the coming year, it’s worth pausing to reflect on all that God has done in our midst this past year:
- We continued to steadily get settled in our new church building. We’ve now been here for a whole year, if you can believe it!
- We rehabbed the flooring in our narthex, installed new audio and video broadcast equipment in the nave, and have a few more projects still to come (look for new light fixtures in the next several months).
- In January, we held a sacred and raucous brunch to send out the Ruark family as Fr. Spencer accepted a new call to serve as Associate Rector at St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Carmel.
- In February at our annual meeting we elected two new people–Alissa Birkel and Tim Ludden–to serve on our Vestry, joining Donna Romack (Senior Warden), Nathan Baker (Junior Warden), Ken Racke (Treasurer), and Lukas Smith.
- We welcomed 15 new members to our congregation, and many others have become regular attenders of worship gatherings and Table Groups.
- In March we hired a Parish Administrator, Peter Kyle, and reorganized the hours and job descriptions for our two Co-Vicars: Ben Sternke and Matt Tebbe.
- We baptized two children in the past year, welcoming them into the Church.
- In April Bishop Jennifer joined us to preach and preside at the Eucharist for our first regular pastoral visitation as a congregation in the diocese.
- So far this year through our Benevolence Fund we’ve given away $12,600 to help 18 people with various needs, including utilities, rent, vehicle repair, groceries, medical bills, legal fees and tutoring.
- We continue to walk alongside the Rockey family as Miranda pursues healing and wholeness in her body. The gains made in the past year in her recovery have been significant.
- In our Adult Formation ministry, people participated in two DNA Groups, three book studies, and a variety of Sunday School classes on topics such as 1 John, The Table 101. The Lord’s Prayer, Discipleship in the Streets, Death and Dying, Creation Care and Climate Courage, and Anglicanism and Colonialism. (Discipleship in the Sheets starts next week!)
- We hosted a grant-funded Community Asset Mapping Event on September 16, where city officials, non-profits, business owners, residents, and other stakeholders in our church building’s neighborhood gathered to help us imagine how our building and grounds can be used for the benefit of the whole community. We’re really excited about the relationships and future possibilities.
- We won a grant (which was temporarily taken away from us, and then restored!) to plant 20 native, fruit-nearing trees on our church property as a “Sacred Forest.”
- And of course we continued to find ways to share life together in the love of God: Holy Eucharist, Table Groups, after-church potluck meals, parties, concerts, movie nights, cleaning days, and many informal gatherings.
We are also thinking about the future, and along with the Staff and Vestry we are discerning how God is calling us to participate in the life and mission God shares with us in 2026. Our new church building creates new responsibilities as well as new missional opportunities to be present in a new place as Christ’s Body. We’ve maintained community partnerships we inherited from St. Albans and are looking to develop others as we grow and discern together.
So, as we said above, we’re writing to ask you to take time over the next month or so to sincerely pray about how you will steward your resources of time, talent, and treasure in 2026 to participate in the life and mission we share together in God.
Our stewardship is about our money, of course, but it’s about more than that. We ask you to make a stewardship pledge every year for a few reasons:
1) We believe that the life and work we share at The Table is a vital source of kingdom life in the Indianapolis area.
We began praying and dreaming about The Table ten years ago because we wanted to cultivate a worshiping community drawn together to follow Jesus by creating a particular form of life together:
- In a reactionary world, we are cultivating a resilient, non-anxious Christianity that’s not afraid to wrestle with deep questions of faith.
- In a world obsessed with short-term results and the 24-hour news cycle, we’re focusing on long-term spiritual formation and leadership development to see generations multiplied over the long haul.
- In a culture held captive to “us vs. them” ideologies, we’re cultivating a generous “big tent” spirituality grounded in the deep well of the Anglican tradition.
- In a world languishing under the legacy of White colonialism, we’re activating the Body of Christ to engage in social, economic, environmental, and racial justice, standing in solidarity with marginalized and oppressed communities, and working for liberation for all.
How do we do this? Well, we “do church” together: We gather to sing together, hear God’s word together, pray together, break bread and make Eucharist together, share life together, and invite all who would come to join us in the transformational journey of following Jesus.
As we participate in this shared life, it transforms us. We steadily become more recognizably the Body of Christ, welcoming one another and the stranger in love, listening to God and one another in grace and truth, proclaiming good news to one another and our neighbors, and going to join in solidarity with the marginalized in the name of Jesus.
This is what we do week in and week out. We consider every person who comes into our church as a gift from God, given to help our community grow into mature love. Through worship gatherings, formation classes, DNA Groups, and meals together in Table Groups, God’s mission is going forward.
2) We believe part of our stewardship is to plan ahead and budget according to our need and the resources available to us.
Many of you already give faithfully and sacrificially, and we are deeply grateful for your partnership in the work God is doing through The Table. So many of you have beautiful stories of the redemptive and transformative work God has done in you through your participation in our life together as a community.
The work that we are doing at The Table is funded by donations from ordinary people like you who have decided to participate in sharing resources to see God’s mission go forward in our midst. We make every effort to steward resources wisely, to make the biggest possible impact for the sake of the whole gospel. In other words, your pledge helps us plan and budget wisely and realistically.
3) It’s not just about money: Our stewardship is also about our time, our capacity, and our call to participate in the life we share together in God as the Body of Christ.
We believe that what God has given us to steward isn’t just our money, but also our time and talent. We believe The Table is at an inflection point: a moment where significant change can occur. To do so, we need to strengthen lay ministry by building teams of people to do the work of our church together.
So as you pray about how you will contribute financially to the life of our church this coming year, also consider where God may be calling you to serve in the life of our church. On the pledge form, there is a list of teams that we are seeking to build right now.
Even if you are already giving financially and/or serving in lay ministry and plan to continue, we ask that you fill out the form to indicate your pledge for 2026 (even if it’s the same as last year), so we can plan accordingly.
If you have not been a consistent stewardship partner at The Table, and you sense God’s call to be part of our life together, please prayerfully consider what amount of money you will give, and in what area of ministry you will serve in 2026. If you have a partner, pray with them about this decision. We strongly believe that God leads couples to make important decisions in agreement.
If you have questions about how giving works at The Table, check out our Frequently Asked Church Giving Questions page.
Make your pledge by November 2.
You can make your pledge online right now, or by filling out a pledge card at church and putting it in the offering plate on Sunday.
We will be sending out weekly updates on the stewardship campaign via email with more details (sign up to make sure you’re on the list), but please don’t hesitate to reach out to us or the Vestry if you have any questions at all.
We are so thankful for what God is doing in our church, and you’re a big part of that. Thank you for your partnership with us in the gospel!
Grace and peace,
Fr. Ben Sternke and Fr. Matt Tebbe
Co-Vicars at The Table
