Piglet noticed that even though he had a very small heart it could hold a rather large amount of gratitude. A.A. Milne, in Winnie-The-Pooh
Sunday, August 29, we began our yearly Stewardship Campaign. Since the Covid pandemic has caused us to not do things “in the same old way,” you will notice a couple of changes this year. First, we are starting the campaign earlier than we have in years past. We decided to start our Stewardship time earlier to allow more time for budget planning before January 1, 2022. Second, we will have a Stewardship Invitation not a Campaign. As we know language changes over time. Our Long-Range Planning Committee has recently connected with the Generosity Plus program offered by the Disciples of Christ Center for Faith & Giving. In exploring the theological understandings of why we as church members offer our gifts the Generosity Plus program helped us to see that we are offering an Invitation for people to respond not leading a Campaign.
Now that you are all caught up, I am excited about our Stewardship Invitation starting earlier. I am also excited about our Stewardship Invitation theme for this year based on Jeremiah 29:10-11: A Future With Hope. Many times we reach this point in the church year and look at the budget and begin a campaign with the feeling that we don’t have enough money and need more money next year or we will have to start making cuts to the budget. This is the “do or die” campaign thought process that has been the prevalent way of doing church stewardship campaigns.
This year while we will continue to realistically look at our budget, we are inviting you as members and friends of the church to offer your gifts knowing that God is leading us into a Future With Hope. That is why I am so excited about our Stewardship Invitation this year! Over the next 5 weeks we are inviting you to pray and dream about the fullness of life First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Minneapolis will have in the future. Yes, whatever dreams you have for the church will more than likely take money as well as your time and your talents to make it happen. If we believe that God is leading us into the future, and we open ourselves up to the endless possibilities of what is ahead for First Christian then I imagine great excitement around offering our gifts on Stewardship Invitation Giving Day on September 26th!
To begin our Stewardship Invitation, I ask that we start with taking time to be grateful. Gratitude is good for our souls and allows us to look past what we don’t have so that we can see all that God has already done and that opens our eyes to see a future with hope. There is so much hope and life ahead! I guess what I am asking is that we be like Piglet from Winnie-The-Pooh. Let us hold a large amount of gratitude in our hearts as we pray and dream about what First Christian’s ministries will look like in the future. We are invited over the next 5 weeks with gratitude and hope to make those dreams become reality as we follow God’s lead into the future! Much love and peace, Pastor Laurie