2009 Stewardship Pledge Campaign

“The World Of The Generous Gets Larger And Larger”

Proverbs 11:24 (The Message)

Dear Members and Friends:

Practice makes perfect. Maybe not. But just sitting there thinking about it doesn’t help. Waiting to feel like doing something well before just doing it can be exactly what we’re looking for: a good excuse to do nothing.

Long ago Aristotle spoke of virtue as a habit, something that is acquired in the practice of it. Just like we acquire other skills by repeated practice, so with the Christian virtues of faith, hope and love – and the giving that expresses them. These are not simply products of inspiration. Maybe this is the truth behind the observation that “You only fall in love once, the rest is merely practice to make sure you heart can take it”!

St. Paul said of the church what can be said of any important relationship: ‘We have this treasure in earthen vessels,” meaning we’re not prefect, we don’t always do it right. It takes experience and practice to ‘make sure our hearts can take it.”

Generosity is a virtue, giving, a practice not always easy. As with playing basketball or playing the piano, dance or chess, skill improves with the learning and repetition of techniques often taught by someone already accomplished. Skills stretch our original capacities, opening us to a world richer and more satisfying than we ever knew.

The practice or technique of giving taught in our spiritual tradition is tithing, or proportional giving (giving a percentage of our income, trying to increase a step at a time, year by year). Like practicing the scales on a piano, it’s a way to remember the basics as we then move to a good performance.

A PDF file of our pledge card is available for you to utilize after you have taken the time to prayerfully consider your gift to help us continue the work of God in this world. Your completed pledge card can be submitted confidentially to Rev. Bill Hoglund or our Church Bookkeeper, Linda Vytlacil.

Sincerely,

 The Stewardship Ministry 

 

Text taken from the 2008 UCC stewardship campaign program