The 213th Annual Council - Diocese of Virginia

Proceedings
family from Bosnia and one from Somalia. Volunteers help them with English, peer
support, job seeking and integration into the community. It is an honor for me to present
the 2007 Bishop’s Outreach Award to St. James the Less Episcopal Church.
Giving Recognition
The president introduced Patricia “Patsy” Bjorling, diocesan director of stewardship
and development.
Ms. Bjorling addressed Council:
St. Paul said to the Corinthians, “The body is a unit. Though it is made up of many parts
and though all its parts are many, they form one body.” Likewise, though we are many
members, we are one body. The ministry of this Diocese is all of our ministry. We are
all members of the body and we are all one unit. The gifts that your churches give are
God’s gifts to the work of the Church, and you churches are God’s gifts to the work of
the Church. We think that it is appropriate to celebrate the giving of churches that have
found ways to be as generous as possible. Just as we celebrate the giving of one another
in the local church setting, so should we celebrate the giving of a local congregation to
the larger Church. We have five categories that we have decided upon for this special
recognition which will become an annual feature of this Annual Council.
Ms. Bjorling presented the following awards:
Highest Percentage 2007
St. John’s, McLean
Holy Cross, Batesville
St. Paul’s, Charlottesville
St. Luke’s, Simeon
Trinity, Washington
St. Michael’s, Arlington
16.5 percent
15 percent
13 percent
13 percent
12.5 percent
12 percent
Largest Percentage Increase between 2003 and 2007 with Unbroken Record of Giving
St. Mary’s, Berryville 5 percent
Grace, The Plains
4.8 percent
St. Luke’s, Remington 4 percent
Grace, Goochland
4 percent
St. Luke’s, Simeon
3.7 percent
Kingston Parish, Matthews 3 percent increase
St. Dunstan’s, McLean 3 percent increase
Highest Per Capita 2007
St. Paul’s, Richmond $209
Christ Church, Lucketts $185
Trinity, Upperville $169
Emmanuel, Middleburg $157
St. Margaret’s, Woodbridge $153
Highest Dollar 2007
Christ Church, Alexandria $205,421
St. Paul’s, Richmond $200,044
St. Stephen’s, Richmond $185,619
St. John’s, McLean $184,561
St. James’s, Richmond $159,485
The Diocese of Virginia t Journal of the the 213 th Annual Council 85