Many Ways of Giving

4.17.16
Reflection by UUCOM Treasurer, Tom Hull:

Short Sermon by Rev. Emily Wright-Magoon:

Every year, UU congregations all over the country talk around this time of year about Stewardship and invite members and friends to offer pledges of support, the financial commitments that enable the staff and lay leaders to budget responsibly for the coming church year. As you might expect, this can be an anxious time for ministers and Boards as the pledges trickle in and deficits sometimes appear. In most congregations, the minister offers at least one sermon that is focused in large part on the pledge drive, a message that is sometimes referred to as “The Sermon on the Amount.” We ministers can get anxious about these sermons, too.
Knowing that humor can help diffuse the tension, one of my colleagues posted on a minister’s only Facebook page the following request: “What’s your shadow pledge sermon title?” Within a day or so more than 60 ministers had responded with their humorous and irreverent pledge sermon titles. Here are a few of their answers: (Thanks to Rev. Mark Stringer for this opening, though the joke pledge titles are anonymous.)
“The Good News is that we have all the money that the church needs to fulfill its mission. The Bad News is that it is still in your pockets.”
“I upped my pledge, up yours”
“Bring the Change You Want To See”
“Your Faith in the Miraculous is Only Evident at Budget Time”
All joking aside…
Our Stewardship campaign
is not only about meeting the financial needs of the church.
Our Stewardship campaign is an opportunity to consider the spirituality of giving,
to consider our human need to give,
to consider how thriving communities are created by generosity.

The stewardship campaign is a time
for us to assess our own spiritual growth as givers,
as individual givers, as giving households, as a giving congregation. (text adapted from Joanne Giannino)
Next week the children will be fully included in our service and we will talk about generosity and stewardship as spiritual values. We will also participate in a joyful and celebratory shared ritual of submitting our pledge cards. Many Unitarian Universalist churches do this as a way to celebrate the promises we make to each other and our belief in stewardship as a value.
If you are a member or a pledging friend, you are encouraged to bring your pledge card to that service – if you’ve already turned yours in, we’ll have blank ones that you can use symbolically for our ritual of commitment. Don’t let this all frighten you! Another one of the joke titles given on that facebook thread was: “It’s Pledge Sunday – Come Anyway!” But seriously, if you’re scared of coming to that service because you’re not sure if you’re pledging, or you’re afraid you’re not pledging enough, or maybe you’re new here and you’re not sure how you fit in to such a service – please don’t be apprehensive – First of all, no one will know whether you are pledging or not, there will be easy ways for first-time visitors to be meaningfully involved, and most importantly – know that it will be a space of celebration, not of guilt or shame.
There are so many ways we can all give to this church, and they are all deeply valued.
Our goal is 100% pledging participation from all members (and any friends who would like to pledge). The Stewardship Committee and I knew this was an achievable goal because we know that each member has so many ways to give of their time, talent, or treasure. Even if you are stretched so hard financially that you stay awake at night wondering how you can pay your bills, the good news is you can give to this church of your time or talent, and you will receive treasure in return. There are so many ways people from many different financial backgrounds give to this church in diverse ways.
I’ve seen your generosity – I’ve seen people weeding the gardens, washing the windows, cleaning up the kitchen after potlucks, bringing food to potlucks, managing our finances, singing in the choir, fixing leaky faucets, leading Sunday services, serving on the Board, showing up at 8 am on a Saturday to unlock the door for our yoga class, making a pot of coffee before church, serving as a greeter on Sunday mornings, teaching our children or teen classes, connecting our church to the wider community, and so much more!
These ways of giving are as essential as financial giving.
If our church had a million dollars in pledges each year, but did not have anyone giving of their time and talent, the church would not succeed. One might argue, “well, if we had a million dollars, we could hire paid staff to do all of the work!” Certainly paid staff are important. But a church where only paid staff do the work is not a church – it is more like a country club.
A church is a place of shared ministry – where we all feel inspired and emboldened to do the work in our mission, within the church and beyond our walls. Because stewardship – acting generously to support what we care about – is one of our spiritual and ethical values. So, please know that if you have carefully considered your financial circumstances, and you have come to the sobering reality that you cannot pledge this year any dollars – the ways you pledge your time to this church are also deeply valued and celebrated.
We would not be here without you.
Similarly every amount of money is valued and celebrated.
Studies show it is low-income working families that are the most generous group in America, giving away about 4.5 percent of their income on average. This compares to about 2.5 percent among the middle class, and 3 percent among high-income families. That’s why I support percentage-based giving. Because if you are giving $25 a month, and that represents 3% of your income, you are giving at the same percentage as the person with a much larger income who gives $250 per month. My husband Ethan and I have decided to pledge 3% of my income to this church. I wish we could do 5% or even 10%, and I am so grateful to those members who choose that level of generosity. 3% is a stretch for us and felt like the most we could stretch and it still be joyful giving.
The way we use our money in the world is a touchy subject, but it expresses our values. When we look at our bank statements, we see our priorities.
If we believe enough in this church and its future, could those of us who are able stretch ourselves just a bit more? Could we make changes to the way we spend that reflect what we want to steward? I heard of one person deciding that they could save a bit of money for their pledge by ordering water instead of soda each time they eat out! What changes could you make to spending that would not be borne of guilt, but of joy, because you know deep in your bones the joy of stewarding something you care about, the joy of generously giving because of your hope for the future?
Okay, I’ll end with one more bit of humor:
The Buddhist walks up to the hot dog vendor and tells him to “make me one with everything.”
…The vendor gives him a hot dog and the Buddhist gives him a twenty dollar bill. After a moment of waiting, the Buddhist asks, “Where’s my change?” The vendor smiles and says,
“Ahh, change must come from within.”