Letter to St. Michael's Family

Below is a letter that we recently sent to several members of St. Michael's Church. We want to share it with all of our friends and family, so we thought we'd post it on our blog. Blessings!

Dear--,

As active members of St. Michael’s, you are familiar with the mission statement, “Called to Community, Transformed by Grace, Sent to Serve.” As with many of you, St. Michael’s has guided us through these steps to a full relationship with Jesus Christ. We now find ourselves at the last step, and God has made it clear how He wants us to serve. Rob is called to ordained ministry. This calling has been affirmed by a group of St. Michael’s parishioners and by the South Carolina Diocesan Commission on Ministry.

Rob will attend the Nashotah House, an Episcopal Theological Seminary in Nashotah, Wisconsin. We had the opportunity to visit the campus in early March. It is an incredible community. Imagine crossing a boarding school with the “intentional” lifestyle of a Benedictine monastery. The faculty, staff, and students live on campus with their families. Morning and Evening Prayer chapel services are required for all students Monday through Friday. Each seminarian is placed on a work crew that serves the campus community several hours a week. The “intentional” lifestyle is a balanced life of prayer, work, and study, which is designed to prepare seminarians and their families for parish ministry. Julie and I are communicating our experiences on a web log, which we hope you will visit often at www.kunesfamily.blogspot.com.

We are excited about the next three years of our lives. We know that they will be challenging, but we know that God has called us to this ministry and that His hand is guiding us. As members of our family at St. Michael’s, we hope that you will continue to walk with us on our journey. You can offer support in many ways, but we have two primary needs. We need prayer, and we need financial support. In addition to the weekly prayers that St. Michael’s offers for its seminarians, we hope that you will pray for our specific needs, which we will post and update frequently on our web log.

Nashotah House estimates that the annual expense of a family without children is between $40,000 and $45,000. This figure includes tuition, books, rent, utilities, health insurance, groceries, etc. However, there are many expenses not included in this budget. Some expenses are one-time costs, such as moving costs and a computer, and others are standard budget items for our family, such as veterinary bills and heartworm/flea medication.

The Diocese of South Carolina and St. Michael’s parish are providing some financial support. The Diocese of South Carolina has a seminary tuition fund that is shared by all of the seminarians. This year, our portion of the fund will provide some of the expense of our tuition. St. Michael’s has a seminarian fund, which will provide an additional part of our tuition. We will also lease our home, which will create some income, and Julie will work. Altogether, this support covers roughly half of the total annual expense. Thus, our estimated financial need for 2007 is $20,000.

If you feel led to support us financially, you may send checks directly to us, but we suggest you take the tax-deduction by sending them to St. Michael’s, care of the Seminarian Fund (do not write our names on the check). We are sending this letter to you because as fellow members of St. Michael’s, we consider you family. You have ministered to us in prayer, service, and fellowship. It is because of the way the Holy Spirit has worked through St. Michael’s to touch our lives that we are now transformed and sent to serve. Thank you for your continued support as we prepare for the service of ordained ministry.

Yours in Christ,

Rob and Julie Kunes

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Philippians 1:3-6