Author: Admin

Christmas at Grace Ministries

Thanks to the “extravagant generosity” (one of St. Stephen’s guiding principles) of the St. Stephen’s United Methodist Church community and friends, in 2022 we provided over 600 children from 215 families with wrapped, age-appropriate Christmas gifts. Their families also received shelf-stable groceries, produce, bread, and diapers. Additionally, we gifted Browne Education Campus in Washington, DC, with 35 family activity gifts for their preschool to eighth-grade students.

With your help, we hope to share even more this year. The number and size of guest families participating in Grace Ministries and First Fridays/Green Groceries has steadily increased throughout 2023.

Detailed gift suggestions for infants to 17-year-olds can be found below. There will also be a Giving Tree in the Gathering Space, with tags grouped by specific age ranges. We kindly ask that you wrap the gifts (although we are happy to assist if needed) and label them by age and gender, if applicable. Please remember to include batteries if required. We also appreciate donations of wrapping paper, tape, and Christmas labels.

You may drop off packages at the church during regular office hours or when attending services or meetings. The deadline for drop-off is Thursday, December 14, and distribution will take place on the 16th.

Thank you so much for your support. Grace Ministries and our families truly appreciate it.

• Suggested Gifts for Most Age Groups: Books, sports balls, puzzles, art supplies, science, building and craft kits, board and card games.
• Infant to 3: Attachable mobiles, plush animals and dolls, pull toys, bath toys, picture books.
• 3 to 5: Musical toys, play sets (farm, first responders, garage, medical, cooking, dinosaurs, jungle), coloring books, crayons, markers, stickers, play vehicles.
• 5 to 7: Action figures and dolls, costume headgear (firefighter, construction, jungle animal, decorated hairbands, superhero), Etch A Sketch, chalkboard and chalk, musical toys, puppets, bean bag sets.
• 7 to 9: Motorized land, air, and sea craft, plant grow kits, building sets, science, craft, and baking kits.
• 9 to 11: Science, model-building, craft kits, personal journals, pens, art supplies, LED gloves, scrapbooks.
• 12 to 14: Advanced science and craft kits, nail care kits, bracelets, sports gloves, frisbees, decorative items.
• 15 to 17: Personal journals, dart boards, men’s travel and shave kits, makeup sets, wallets, purses, entertainment gift certificates, decorative boxes.

Seven Ways to Donate to SSUMC’s Endowment

Endowment giving to St. Stephen’s may take many forms:

• Securities are generally deductible at full market value and taxes on the gain may be avoided.
• Real Estate is also generally deductible at full market price.
• Life Insurance Policies may be used to designate the SSUMC Permanent Endowment Fund as a beneficiary.
• Charitable Trusts provide the donor with income for life with the assets passing to the SSUMC Permanent Endowment Fund.
• Wills and Trusts may be used to designate assets to the SSUMC Permanent Endowment Fund.
• Liquid Assets such as cash, treasury bills, money market accounts.
• Gift Annuities provide the donor with income for life with the assets passing to the SSUMC Permanent Endowment Fund.

All gifts for endowment should be labeled for the SSUMC Permanent Endowment Fund.

Contact Charlie Jedlicka, Endowment Committee Chair, at 703-978-2593 to further explore these opportunities.

“Green Church” Award

Last week, the Virginia Annual Conference met in Roanoke, VA for our yearly gathering of representative, lay and clergy, from every church.  Among the many wonderful, and hope-filled, reports and experiences, St. Stephen’s was recognized as one of five “Green Churches” in our Conference for 2023.  We received the award in response to this spring’s “Green Day” event on April 30th. The award is extended to a church for “its work to green its church and model for its community the importance of caring for God’s creation and for its support of the Conference Green Church Initiatives.”  Let us continue to live into our responsibility to be good stewards of God’s creation together!

Easter Eggstravaganza!

When the world shut down for the COVID-19 pandemic, do you know what was also lost?  Easter egg hunts. That’s right; this cherished activity has been largely sidelined for the past several years. This year, WE’RE BACK!

This year we’ll be hosting Eggstravaganza on Saturday, April 8 from 2-4 p.m. It will be a fantastic time to introduce friends and families to St. Stephens, so we’re asking everyone to invite someone with kids who enjoy the thrill of Easter-Egg-Hunting!

If you are interested in volunteering your time as an egg hider or craft assistant, please get in touch with Devin Caldwell at children@ststephensfairfax.org or call the church office. Together, we can make this Eggstravaganza a delightful celebration for our entire community!

Register For Our New Email List Today

We’re re-building our e-mail list!

Why, you ask? Well, it’s a good thing to do from time to time. In order to stay out of SPAM folders, and to comply with the law, we have to send our emails through services like ConstantContact or MailChimp, that handle our bulk emails in specific ways. Over time, email lists get clogged up with out-of-date addresses, incorrect information, and unresponsive subscribers, all of which we end up paying for. Of our over 1,000 subscribers, only 45% are active, while 65% remain on our list but never open our emails. We pay for them even when they’re inactive.

To improve our communications capabilities, we are phasing out our MailChimp account and building a brand-new mailing list on a new service. ConvertKit will give us capabilities for growing our outreach and more effectively connecting with our members. But in order to receive our church’s emails after Easter, you’ll have to subscribe using the form above.

This service is being provided at no cost by The Lakelands Institute, our church’s communications contractor. You might see this name on your confirmation email, but don’t worry: the Lakelands Institute will never, ever sell your information or send you materials not associated directly with St. Stephen’s.

Between now and Easter, we’ll be sending out our emails the same way we have in the past, but after Easter, if you’re not signed up, you probably will miss out on all of the good information we send from St. Stephens. You can sign up at any time, but please go ahead and register in the new system as soon as you can.