A Message From 2025 Stewardship Chair Cate Mart

Dear Church Family,

In the immediate years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the early Church formed tight-knit communities of like-minded believers that called themselves “The Way”. I remember learning of this in my twenties and being so struck by the simplicity and profundity of it. “The Way” is a name that speaks to faith in action driven by beliefs that are lived out, transformative, and embody Christ’s love. This reference to “The Way” is found in Acts 19.

Fifteen chapters earlier in Acts, we have a passage in which Peter and John have been arrested. They have been preaching about the resurrection of Christ and, as might be expected, those that held power were not particular fans of this subversive Gospel. Despite being belittled and threatened and even jailed, despite being taunted as “uneducated and ordinary men”, Peter and John keep lifting their voices and sharing the story of Jesus. Despite fierce opposition, they used their voices to preach the resurrection of a different kind of Savior - one who heals the sick, gives sight to the blind, and comforts the migrant and the marginalized.

In doing so, they built a Church. They helped others find hope in a radical new way of living in community. The Church that they built had our Savior as it’s foundation stone, but the bricks have been laid year over year for two millennia by people like you and me who pledged to live out “The Way” in communion with one another, sharing our time, talents, and resources. The Church has always been sustained by the bravery and generosity of its members.

It strikes me that while the trappings of our lives have changed dramatically in 2000 years, many of the struggles the early Church faced are still present today. We still live in a time of great uncertainty where the work of the Church can be seen as threatening.

We still believe in and preach a Gospel of “The Way” – one that confidently states the pursuit of money and power for the sake of influence is antithetical to the message of Christ’s life and resurrection. We believe in justice for those who have been persecuted, mercy for those who are vulnerable, and compassion for those at the margins, as a reflection of Christ’s life and commandments to us. And in living out these beliefs, both as individuals and as a collective, we threaten to overturn the overarching narrative of our time.

In times such as these, I am more grateful than ever for a community of believers. People like all of you, at Vine Street, who remind me that I am not alone and that the work of Christ is not done. It highlights for me the urgency of investing in a place where we can find hope, and community, and joy, and a sense of awe. We all still need that.

My prayer this year is that we, like the early Church, may recognize that our abundance does not belong to us and our faith compels us to build a Church tall enough, wide enough, and strong enough to bring our community through any storm that assails it. As the early Church clung to one another, relying on each other for physical and spiritual sustenance, so may we remain one in heart and mind.

Please join me this year in prayerfully considering your pledge to Vine Street for the 2025-2026 budget. Your gifts and your presence are needed.

Sincerely,
Cate Mart
2025 Stewardship Chair