Stewardship for 2008 and Beyond

This year’s Stewardship Campaign may have seemed very low key compared to other years at Good News United Methodist Church. There is a reason for that. Motivating people to give money to the church can be accomplished in many ways. One is by experiencing a very large, hyped-up campaign where folks are moved by peer pressure and emotion to pledge large amounts to the church. The other extreme is to constantly show how behind the church is in paying its bills each month to generate giving out of guilt and fear. I do not believe in either method.

I believe stewardship is not just something we do once a year to somehow predict whether or not we will have enough money to do the work of the church. Stewardship is an everyday part of what it means to have faith in God. It is an outward expression of our trust in God that we can do everyday whether it is the time we spend in prayer and service, the gifts we use to lift up and encourage others, or the money we give to fund the ministry of the Church. Stewardship is the using of what God has given to us to build the kingdom of God on earth everyday in all that we do.

In addition, a pledge card is more than just a financial record of our promised giving to the church. It is an opportunity to put our faith in action. It is a chance to step out of the comfortable world of trusting only ourselves into the uncomfortable world of learning to trust God with some level of accountability – not to keep us accountable for a dollar amount to the church, but to help keep us accountable to a promise we make between us and God. It is an opportunity to grow in our walk with God.

We at Good News United Methodist Church have a mission to offer the people in our community the opportunities to encounter the kingdom of God through Jesus Christ in all that we do. But, to do so takes money, both now and in the future as expenses grow with a building of our own. Again, let me remind you that even though we will make money on the sale of half of Holy Ground, we are not allowed to use any of the money to pay operational expenses or fund the necessary ministry of the church. That is why we need each other to make ministry happen.

I would like to thank those families who filled out and turned in their commitment cards for 2009, and I would like to encourage those who have yet to turn their cards in to do so by Thanksgiving. As believers, we have a reason to be thankful even during tough times because tough times don’t just need tough people. Tough times need a tough faith in a strong God.