If your home is anything like mine, talking about the money is not always an easy thing to do. That is especially true if in addition to talking about the money, you also are talking about the lack of it. And so in addition to talking about our financial status during worship, we’ll also have a time for discussion and questions during a part of the fellowship time. Bart and others will also be available for smaller conversations if you would like. We will also be including a copy of our notes in your third quarter giving statements in case you can’t make it to the conversation on Sunday.
During these next weeks we are going to have conversation in worship about different parts of our life together. We start by talking about the money, because well, it is an important sign of our commitment and yet it is something we shy away from addressing. So although it may be a bit difficult, I am going to ask you as a part of being what I called a “die hard member” to review your giving to EPUMC. I know a lot of us give what we might call “in kind”; that is we give a lot of time and energy and creativity. This is a strength of our congregation. For Sunday I’m asking you to look at “the money” before you come to worship. Be aware of the dollar amount you give.
Now before I get more responses to a memo than can be recorded, give me a moment. I am not judging anyone’s worth to EPUMC based on how much money they give to the church. I am, however, saying that what you give matters. It matters first of all to you. Giving is an important part of our spiritual development. It matters to the mission and ministry of our Church. We’ll hear about that on Sunday. And it matters to the people who are not here yet. We need to talk about the money so that we can talk about how we can keep making great things happen here.
Keep the Faith,
Pastor Dan