“If you have faith as small as a mustard seed….”

Dear Pilgrims,

We’re jumping right to the point!  It’s Stewardship season and we invite you to pledge to the ministry of Pilgrim Church for 2026.  We’re dedicating pledges on November 23, Thanksgiving Sunday.  For 2026, we’re hoping for about a 5% increase in overall pledging as part of our operating income.  If most current pledge units consider a 5% increase and we receive some new pledges, we’ll reach our total pledge goal for 2026 of $187,200.  Our committee has reviewed the church’s narrative budget for 2026 (please see below). If you’re ready to make your pledge, please use the form below or request a paper form from the office.  

We are able!  There are moments when we wonder if we can, when we wonder what a local congregation can do. These are moments to remember the parable of the mustard seed (Luke 17:6-7 or Matthew 13:31-32.) Because we are made in God’s image, because we are made good, and because of what God is able to do through us, we have amazing gifts to share.  We can respond to our Creator’s love with generosity, joy, love and service.  Look what we can do!

Throughout the seven decades of Pilgrim Church, our members and friends have imagined what is possible through generosity and goodness.  We are a community of hospitality, service, and faith. Look what we can do together!

The gifts of saints past and present have helped Pilgrim Church to be in sound financial condition, and we are so grateful.  If you are interested in knowing about including Pilgrim in your estate plan, we’d be glad to connect you with the Forever Pilgrims group.  Look what we have done through the years!

Thank you for walking together as a part of Pilgrim Congregational Church, UCC!

Your 2026 Stewardship Committee  –
David Nuss, Susan Carabbio, Michael Scott-Morton, Dave McClave, Elizabeth Chen, Rev. Reebee Girash

PLEDGE FORM

2026 Narrative Budget

TOTAL INCOME:  $349,363 (Pledges, Fund Income, Facilities and Fundraising)

TOTAL EXPENSES: $349,363

Our expenses represent the costs of making possible all that we do as a congregation. Church Council has received this 2026 budget for review.

Worship and Spiritual Life:  $162,780

Our largest expense is funding our worship and spiritual life. Your pledge provides salary and benefits for our Pastor, Rev. Reebee Girash; our Music Director, Dot Bowe; and Choir Director, Ethan DePuy.  Our music program is extraordinary. Every Sunday our choir and instrumentalists inspire us.  This budget category also covers the costs of Care and Fellowship activities. Our ministries of Care make sure that our members know we’re loved and we belong. From a Care Committee that wraps folks in need in love, to Men’s Coffee group where deep friendships are formed, to potlucks and coffee hour, there’s a place for each of us.

Christian Education: $41,876

When asked what members prioritize at Pilgrim, we often hear that nurturing our children and youth is essential for being a welcoming church home. Our children and youth are a gift that we treasure through Sunday School, Service Projects, Confirmation, intergenerational worship, and joyful times together.  (We can’t wait for this year’s Pageant!)  We also have Adult Education offerings that deepen our faith, stretch our minds, and help us to grow as Christ’s disciples. Your pledge provides salaries for our Director of Educational Ministries, Sarah Jane Fuller; our lead Sunday School Teacher, Izzy Leginsky; and our Nursery Care Providers, April Chung and Lydia Van Evera. Your pledge also supports our Church School, Youth Groups, Confirmation, and Adult Education programs and materials.

Church Maintenance and Facilities: $67,080

The care of our church building and grounds enables us to be a welcoming home for all spiritual seekers. When it comes to the maintenance, repairs, and utilities of our church building, grounds, and the parsonage, your pledge dollars are used to help offset these expenses.  Your pledge also covers expenses like snow removal – an expense that can vary widely from year to year in Massachusetts to say the least! Pledging to Pilgrim also provides the salary for our Sexton, Romeo Alves, who cleans and helps maintain our beautiful building week in and week out. This year we’ve embarked on something very ambitious: a solar installation that will provide our church’s electricity for years to come.  Many of you have supported that special project. Thank you. 

Mission: $22,873

Mission work helps us put our Christian faith into action. At Pilgrim Church, we support many worthy organizations locally and internationally. We extend our Care beyond the congregation to neighbors in need far and near. Already this year, we’ve worked in the Interfaith Garden, the Outdoor Church in Cambridge, sent aid to nearby towns dealing with flooding, and provided food to folks in Cambodia. (And a dozen other important projects.)  Your pledge also provides financial support to the mission programs of the UCC as Pilgrim remains a 5 for 5 Congregation, giving to all 5 of the UCC’s Special Mission Offerings: Our Church’s Wider Mission, One Great Hour of Sharing, Strengthen the Church, Neighbors in Need, and the Christmas Fund.  Your pledge makes a difference in the lives of people all over the world, as we live out the intersection of our Christian faith and everyday life.

Administration: $54,754

Increasingly, our church office has become the hub of so much of what we do at Pilgrim Church. Many of our programs and initiatives go through our church office. Our wonderful Church Administrator, Kim Provo, helps us organize the good work we are about as a congregation, and your pledge provides Kim’s salary. It also helps us have the office tools and supplies necessary for our weekly worship bulletins, E-Notes, Zoom and many other expenses that it takes to run a church in 2026. Your generous pledge also covers website maintenance, marketing, insurance costs, and our financial contribution to be a congregation in good standing in the United Church of Christ.