Dream With Me: A Letter from Pastor Steven
Dear Kingdom People,
Many have been asking when the church will have a pledge campaign for 2022. Many have wondered when this year’s giving envelopes are going to be ready for distribution. And, many are curious about how the church stands financially. Good questions. Now, what if I were to tell you that we are not having a pledge campaign in the traditional sense? What if I told you that giving envelopes will be made available to those who want them, but not yet? And, what if I were to tell you that our beloved church ended 2021 financially sound?
In truth, we ended this past year blessed by the richness of God’s generosity and we have, prayerfully, learned something about responding to God’s blessings with abundant gratitude. Perhaps this is the year we put our full trust in the abundance of God’s provisions and dare to respond with our whole selves; our time, our talents, and our treasures. Perhaps this is the moment we ask ourselves what it means to respond to God’s generosity with unfettered gratitude, giving our lives to the ministry and mission of Christ.
Traditionally, churches hold an annual pledge drive, setting the annual budget on the outcome of the promised financial support of the congregation. That method has served churches well over the years, and Milford First is certainly made up of people who give generously to underwrite the needs of our church. We give of our treasure faithfully, and, when asked, we step up to fund special needs. Our financial support has always been dependable, and I am grateful for that support. We respond well to the needs of our church, and we have accomplished wonderful things for the cause of Christ, even when unexpected, unbudgeted ministry opportunities arise. We even added a needed staff position in late 2021, despite it not being in the budget. We were blessed to be able to add that position because we held spending as low as possible. All this is to say, thank you Milford First for faithfully supporting the mission and ministry of our church in 2021.
Can we dream together in 2022? Can we dream of walking together into a future that leans on our traditional sense of giving as we dare to look at responding to the abundance God has showered upon us, an abundance we can trust to carry us into the future of God’s intention? In this new year, can we imagine ourselves responding to God’s blessings with gratitude before being asked? What we know is this: God calls us to do the work of Christ in our world and to be prepared to do that work as it arises, offering our whole-selves to God with gratitude even before enjoying the abundance of God’s goodness.
Picture a future in which we fully respond to the mission and ministry of Christ out of a sense of abundance rather than the limitations of scarcity.
Picture supporting our beloved church with an overabundance of our time, our talents, and our treasure in order to be ready and able to answer God’s call to new ministries that are yet to be born, as well as those already in existence.
In short, we are being asked to dare to dream of the many ways we can respond to God’s abundant gifts with our abundant gratitude.
What does it mean to respond to God with gratitude? At this moment in time, it means prayerfully making time to sit with God for a while, taking an earnest look at how blessed we are, as individuals and as a family of faith. It means taking an inventory of our time, our talents, and our treasure so we can offer our whole selves in gratitude to God through our support of our church. It means making a faithful estimate of how we intend to support the mission and ministries of Milford First with grateful hearts. It means 2022 will be the year we dare to live lives completely prepared to respond to Christ’s call upon our lives. So, let’s dare to share the abundance of God’s love with the world.
Blessings in All the Wonder of Possibilities,
Pastor Steven Rodgers Senior Pastor, Milford First UMC