Beloved Community,
Stewardship is a word we often hear in the life of the church, but it’s about far more than budgets, buildings, and parking lots. It’s about how we live with what has been entrusted to us. It’s more than maintaining what we have—it’s tending what is placed in our care so that life may flourish.
In Gospel of John, Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd.” The Good Shepherd does not keep the flock in one place, but leads them—guiding them toward what will sustain life and away from what has been exhausted. In the same way, we are called not simply to preserve what we have, but to be shaped and led into what will give life for the future.
This is the spirit in which we approach our parking lot. It is not only a matter of repair or expansion—it is an act of hospitality and care. It is one of the first ways we make space for others, often before a word is spoken or a hymn is sung.
Each person who arrives at St. John Immanuel carries something with them—questions, burdens, joys, hopes—and in those first moments after pulling into our parking lot, they are already wondering: Is there space for me here?
Our call, as people of God, is to answer that question with a clear and faithful yes.
Supporting this project is one way we participate in the work of our Good Shepherd—making room not only for ourselves, but for those who are not here yet. It is an investment in welcome, in community, and in the abundant life to which we are being led.
I look forward to our discussion and discernment on May 17.
Pastor Maggie Westaby