Dear Ones,
Many of you will not know the name Terry Parsons. She was probably my single greatest mentor in stewardship, a colleague, and a friend. She was the long time Stewardship Officer for the Episcopal Church and just recently was ordained a priest. She had been serving as Vicar of St. Alban’s Church, Bay City, Michigan. In the past few weeks she had fallen several times, was in the hospital with complications from those falls, and I was informed this morning that she died at about 3:30 a.m. Central Time.
She gave much to this Church, and to me personally. I believe she was the inventor of the term “October Beg A Thon” when speaking of our stewardship drives each Fall, or at least she was the first one I ever heard utter it, and she had many others that will live on. She purely and succinctly lived one quote I will never forget, “you can’t sell soap if you don’t take baths.” Terry didn’t just talk about the Christian call to stewardship, she lived it and her legacy and example will live on. I have lost a dear friend and guide.
O God of grace and glory, we remember before you this day our sister Terry. We thank you giving her to us, her family, friends and colleagues, to know and to love as a companion on our earthly pilgrimage. In your boundless compassion, console us who mourn. Give us faith to see in death the gate of eternal life, so that in quiet confidence we may continue our course on earth, until, by your call, we are reunited with those who have gone before; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Faithfully,
+Greg
The Rt. Rev. Greg Rickel, 8th Bishop of Olympia 
Rest in peace with the saints, Terry. You were a shining light in this world.
May God except His servant and protect her family. Amen
Thank you for the notice…she was one of the joys of my time at 815… I was so happy for her ordination..So grateful for all she did for so many of us….George Werner
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She was a lively interpreter of how she saw God acting in the world. May all who loved her know God’s peace.
Thank you for sharing this with us, Bishop Greg. Be assured of our prayers for you, for Terry and all who love her.
Dearest Terry…Rest with God and all his Saints..you were and will always be the meaning of friend…….I am deepely saddened to hear of her passing..Terry was a wonderful colleague at 815 and in the field of Ministry… She made many moments of my time there meaningful….Terry was the “fun” in “dysfunctional” as we used to joke about the family of 815…Peace my Sister…your Sister Janine Tinsley-Roe
Terry was an amazing woman I was lucky enough to meet almost 20 years ago at a Stewardship Conference (Camp Allen, TX). She transformed my way of looking at stewardship, ‘church giving’ and life in general. Her vivid stories about money and her memorable catch phrases, as +Greg has mentioned, still resonate. Thank you Terry and God be with all who loved you.
We will miss her! What a real Saint! Made me laugh and always was “right on the money,” pardon the pun.
No! This is sad news. When I was editor of Episcopal Life Media, my office was for a time located across from Terry’s. She was a wonderful office neighbor and a generous, caring person who lived her faith every day. When my 11-year-old daughter was visiting the office and wanted to help, Terry gave her a task to do – looking things up that she needed in a directory – and praised her effusively for a job well done! What kindness. RIP Terry and go with God.
Terry, Rest in Peace. Having known you, has made my life a bit richer. Thanks for being you!!!!!!!!!
Bishop Rickel, Terry was such a wonderful person and such a force for change in the way we view our relationships with God and money. She keynoted a stewardship conference at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Chicago in August 2011, just before she took over at St. Alban’s. The whole weeekend was life-changing, and we were fortunate to get the whole conference on YouTube, at http://youtu.be/n00uf8VBaF0 and elsewhere at http://www.youtube.com/user/stpeterschicago. Terry’s one stipulation is that we not charge anyone a dime for the content she provided. She believed so much in the power of the Gospel she preached that she wanted everyone to have access to it. Her discussion about tithing as part of the estate plan is particularly relevant now, and can be found at http://youtu.be/6XwYwJ8cB0s?t=37m30s. She was a great woman. I learned so much from her in discussions at the TENS conference in Indianapolis and over our weekend conference. She changed my life, and the life of my parish, for the better, and I am proud and humbled to say that I’m a more generous person, and my church is a more generous church, because Terry Parsons lived. Well done, good and faithful servant.
The news of Terry’s entrance into heaven caused me to think that a joyful and faithful spirit has left us. Terry brought joy and enthusiasm to our work for The Episcopal Church. Thank you Terry!
Terry took me under her wing when I first came to the Building Fund, then located at 815. She was a trusted guide and mentor, a bright light, fun, funny, honest and intuitive. I knew nothing about working for the church, and Terry was the one person, above all others, who helped me to navigate the waters, supported and encouraged me. I doubt the Building Fund would be where it is today without Terry. With gratitude for your life, and great sadness at your death, Julie Groom
Greg, I remember when you helped get her to Austin in our senior year at seminary for a daylong stewardship workshop. That’s when I started to “get it” and the journey continues. I’m just one of many she inspired along the way. May she rest in peace and rise in glory.
So many memories occur:
— How Terry in her self-introduction would say “The Baptists saved me from the devil, and the Episcopal Church saved me from the Baptists.”
— How happy she was when she found where the words “All things come from thee, O Lord, and of thine own have we given thee” come from. They were uttered by King David in the last days of his life, after he had conducted a massive fund-raiser for the Temple that God had allowed David to design but not to live to see. (I Chron. 29:14b.”
Earth’s loss is Heaven’s gain.
Terry taught me stewardship in a way no other person has or could. I so rejoiced when she was priested…she had a view of life and faith that was infectious and
rejuvenating. Her loss leaves a very large hole.
Jane Cosby
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Greg, Thank you for the notice. I just found out today as I was reading the TENS site for some inspiration for an upcoming sermon. I too remember the “soap” admonition, and in fact, shared it the other day with a new clergy person. Terry was such a tremendous gift to our church. I can’t imagine “stewardship” without her. I guess the only thing worthy of her gift to me is to pass it on to others. Peace, Danny Schieffler