THE ECLECTIC CLERIC - "Let’s Connect!”

It’s that time of year again – the season of our Annual Budget Drive. It happens every year, like clockwork. Because that’s what “annual” means. And we do indeed have a budget to make.

I was talking the other day with a friend of mine (not a churchgoer himself) about how we pay the bills around here.

“But a pledge...” he said, “that’s basically just a promise, right?”

“That’s right,” I said.

“It must take a lot of faith to run an organization as complex as a church on what amounts to a handful of promises…”

“Yes, it does,” I replied. “But fortunately, that’s the business that we’re in….”

The truth of the matter is that our Stewardship Campaign is always about a lot more than mere money. That’s the bottom line beyond the bottom line. The term “stewardship” itself reflects the important understanding that “church” is a gift that we give to one another, and that THIS church is a legacy which we have received from our spiritual ancestors, and hold in trust for our spiritual descendents.

And in the meantime, we are charged with the responsibility of balancing that delicate equation of Worth, Wealth, and Value in order to fulfill our generation’s own generous contribution to the on-going ministry of this faith community to the larger community.

Stewardship is ultimately about both Mission and Vision. “Mission” is simply a fancy way of describing the meaning and purpose of our lives – what we do in order to leave the world a better place than we found it. And Vision is our sense of what the world might look like if we take our Mission seriously, and are successful.

But the word I really like is “campaign.” Campaign means literally “to take the field.” And that’s what this time of year is really all about. Do we sit on the sidelines warming the bench? Or do we get into the game and make a difference, knowing that we are all part of the same team, working together to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves as a congregation?

That’s why this season is always so exciting. Because the opening tip-off is just around the corner……….twj