Dear Davey,

This year I listened, as usual, to the staff and hosts of National Public Radio (NPR) read the Declaration of Independence. This is a tradition at NPR dating back several decades, and it’s been one of my own traditions for many Independence Days. Most of us know how it begins, we learn it in grade school. “When in the course of human events…” it stirs something within us, or at least within me.

But this year, it was the last line that put itself into my head most firmly, and as I went about my day, I kept coming back to it. After a long list of broad statements about the powers and rights that a sovereign nation should keep, the declaration ends with “we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor.” This sounds like a stewardship campaign to me!

When I am asked to make my gift to fund the mission and ministry of my congregation, I am asked for more than a financial gift. I am asked to support the work of my church with my ideas, efforts, wisdom, experience, prayer, and my money. It takes more than a budget to run a ministry – it takes the whole body of Christ and its constituent parts.

In a recent meeting of stewardship leaders, I was blessed to hear Bishop Greg Rickel speak about stewardship. He told us that the tithe was only the beginning of our commitment – what is ten percent when the need is so great? As Christians we give one hundred percent. We’re all in to grow the kingdom of God, to seek and serve Christ in all persons, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Stewardship campaigns, unlike many other types of fundraising programs, ask us to make our commitments publicly, to turn in forms or to declare our support in the full light of the gathered. We make our pledges to the Church and to each other. I will join my gifts with yours and together we will support the needs of our community. My life, my fortune, and my sacred honor. My commitment to my church is a sacred gift, indeed.

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All good gifts,

Cn. J. Davey Gerhard III

Executive Director