Dear friends,
One of my favorite parts of my job is working with the Stewardship Team. Each year, we bring together a new group of three or four people to plan and carry out our Stewardship program, to invite our congregation to commit to supporting our mission and ministry for the coming year.
This process is about so much more than asking for money. We spend time together reflecting on what inspires us to be generous and why we give to this church. We think about what the past year has brought and what we hope for the coming year. We settle on a theme and decide how we will share the message with the whole congregation. It is a creative, fruitful time. Always, I am moved by the faithfulness and thoughtfulness of the group we have gathered.
This year is no exception. Amy Hendrick, Mike Ellis, Bettina Messana, Judy Sebastian and I met in a hybrid fashion to share our reflections. The theme we chose reflects our deep gratitude for the gifts God has given us, especially the gifts we receive through Edwards Church. “Thankful Giving” is simple, and it is profound. It celebrates the ways giving is transformed when it emerges out of thankfulness.
Our theme brought me back to a personal practice I began twenty-five years ago, shortly after coming to Edwards Church. During the week before Dedication Sunday, I took an hour to make a “gratitude list” before I decided on my pledge. I sat down with a pad of paper and started jotting down things I was thankful for. The first page, each year, looked a lot like I would have expected: names of the most important people in my life, gratitude for meaningful work, a comfortable home, and good health. As I kept writing, though, I found myself surprised by what else appeared on the list: crucial moments from my past, mentors I hadn’t thought about in years, challenges that had led me to grow and change. Once I got going, I couldn’t stop.
This gratitude list transformed my experience of pledging, for it inspired me to give out of thankfulness and with an awareness of abundance. I kept the list in a file folder in my book bag for the rest of the year. I’d happen upon it at unexpected times —often when I was in need of perspective.
Somewhere along the line, I got out of the habit of creating my gratitude list. This year’s theme inspires me to resurrect it. I invite you to join me. Make your list on
your own if you like; sit down together with family members if you prefer. Don’t stop at the first page. Keep going and see what surprises you. Save it in a place where you will rediscover it periodically—and then take time to read it and even add to it.
I am so thankful for this congregation—for your gifts and your giving. Peace, Debbie