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Living the Mission - Building in Faith : capital campaign

Temple Talks You Really Don’t Want To Miss!


You probably all understand the concept of Stewardship and how it differs from tithing and fundraising, how a steward is someone who takes personal responsibility for the care of ANOTHER’S property or financial affairs. However, for me, the particulars of this concept have been rather vague. I must confess, I really didn’t “get” it until I did it, even though I didn’t know IT, was what I was doing at the time.

One evening at a meeting, Steve turned to me and mentioned I had a stewardship story and asked me to share it with the other folks in the room. Frankly I didn’t initially know what he was referring to, but he prompted me with a decent cue and I shared my stories. And, that’s how I ended up here this morning.

It all began in the spring of last year with Steve voicing his concerns about the financial problems confronting Peace during the summer months.

During those months, the size of the congregation declines as folks take vacations, return to their summer homes, or take leave from the University. I understood the problem. For 30 years, Tom and I have been in business for ourselves and are profoundly aware of those “lean” times especially in the summer months. I began to think about how we could help support our church home during these times.

As I am want to do, I began meditating on how to find at least $100 more to put toward the operation of my church home, at least for the summer months. As I meditated, the thought occurred to me that I needed to make a hair appointment. I was recovering from surgery at this time and skipping my monthly trip to the hair dresser. Sometimes I have these kinds of intrusive thoughts as I try to “empty” my mind. Then the thought popped into my mind that $100 was almost exactly what it cost to “Do” the color of my hair each month. I could stop coloring my hair and give the money to Peace.

I knew I needed to motivate myself and find ways to stick to the plan when the roots reached that “impossible” stage and when I was sporting a gray streak where my part was supposed to be. My first step in buoying up my resolve was to make my decision public. I told my family what I was going to do. I received mixed reactions but forged ahead.. Going public made it harder to step down from the challenge. Then I got even more committed and bravely asked Chris Sanders, AKA the Silver Fox, to be my poster girl, back up and all round inspirational model. Now I really needed to stick with it. Then I wrote our monthly check to Peace to include the extra $100, so if I wanted to renig on my commitment I’d have to take the money from somewhere else. Then I sealed the deal with myself by telling Steve and Martha about my commitment to my, as I called it, “Go Gray and Give” campaign.

Now comes the capital campaign, our church home is sorely in need of repair and rearranging in order to best continue our mission. Another chance to revisit my stewardship practices. Again, I meditated and my To-Do list with all the things I’d been procrastinating about intruded into the process. Once again, I was having a hard time “emptying” my mind. On the top of the list was the dreaded reminder, “check out mail order prescriptions”. This item had been rotating from the top to the bottom of the list for at least eight months.

Tom and I have health insurance coverage that gives us a break in the cost of medications if we “just” use their mail order program rather than a local pharmacy. I’ve been putting off using this “service” for reasons obvious to anyone who’s ever been involved in the process. All we would need to do is get a list of all our meds including dosage, numbers, directions, etc., visit our family physician and the various specialists who are involved in our care, and request that they or their representative write 90 day scripts for all our medications preferably for a year, then send these scripts in, make sure we have a 30 day supply for each of these scripts so we don’t run out while waiting for our first delivery, then keep track of which meds are coming up for renewal when and make sure we have appointments with the docs who are prescribing in order to get our new scripts in a timely fashion. Then all we needed to do was fill in the paperwork, check to see if we saved anything….well, you get the picture and I’ve been told to keep this to five minutes. So I made the calls, got the appointments, picked up the scripts, contacted the insurance company, filled in the forms, talked to folks at the 800 number and am now waiting by my mail box for the first delivery. Together, we will save $137 a month for this effort and that can go directly to the capital campaign fund.

I’m blessed with options and gifts and I’ve been able to be a bit creative in my stewardship. And for those options and possibilities, I’m very, very grateful.

However, it’s really interesting, this business of Stewardship.

I’ve gotten much more back than I’ve given up.

I’ve had fun.

It’s been a great opportunity to learn more about myself.

I’ve gotten all kinds of support for my “Go Gray and Give” campaign.

I’ve experienced the most wonderful encouragement from my husband, kids, grandkids and friends and my Peace Lutheran family. I’ve gotten support in the form of hugs and smiles, the shared stories of others, atta girls and laughter and “you look greats!”

I’ve gained closet space as I’ve given away all the brown, beige, and dark green clothes that no longer do a thing for me. (and my blonde daughter is very appreciative of the additions to her wardrobe)

My head no longer itches from the chemicals I was subjecting myself to.

I feel a new sense of freedom. I no longer have to plan my hair days so that I’ll be ready for special events without, God forbid, my roots showing.

I’ve gained one whole day a month to do with entirely as I will now that I’m no longer planning my day around the appointment or sitting at the beauty parlor “cooking”.

The jury’s still out on the advantages to come with my mail order scripts venture, Come to think of it, I already feel an increased sense of competency, I no longer feel guilty for not following up an opportunity to save money, and I’ve deleted one large daunting item from my to do list.

Stewardship…

Taking personal responsibility for the care of ANOTHER’S property or financial affairs…..

Using wisely that with which I’ve been entrusted.

After all these years of making statements about being thankful for gifts from God, of dutifully acknowledging that all that I have comes from God, of nodding my head in agreement with the statement, “We come into this world with nothing and leave with nothing”, I’m finally getting it.

I’m merely a steward of all that’s been given to me, it doesn’t really belong to me…….. but, I get to decide how to use it and it’s up to me…..

to use it wisely and gratefully.

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Stewardship Challenge
Mary Jane, you’re a tough act to follow.

So, over the past few months some of you have noticed that I started wearing a tie and jacket to church, and grew a beard. Some of you have commented that I looked good dressed up. That makes me feel good, so I continue to do it. You make me feel good. I hesitate to ask what I looked like before I started the ties & jackets – we won’t go there. Others of you know that I have run a few marathons and have asked “why?” Well after a little effort and pain, it feels good. So I keep doing it. That’s what I want to talk about today – doing things that make me feel good.

I have an advantage over most of you when it comes to money. It’s not that I have more than any of you. The advantage is that I have never viewed what I earn as entirely mine. Let me explain. When Janaan & I got out of college, we were encouraged to tithe at the first church that we joined. Young and gullible as we were, we did. As our salaries increased, so did our giving. But the really neat thing that we learned was that we really enjoy giving. And that the more that we gave the more we enjoyed it. I really enjoy giving my gifts to this church.

Now I have talked to you other times, encouraging you to tithe, and some of you have joined in that enjoyable endeavor. Today, I have a slightly different challenge. We are attempting as a congregation to accomplish something amazing – a sanctuary renovation that will bring more natural light into this building but also enhance the appearance and usability of the facility. It is a visible demonstration to the community that Peace is an active and vibrant congregation. In addition, we hope to provide a mechanism to retire the debt on the entire building in 6 years! Incredible!

So how do we do this? Here’s the trick. Join me, step beyond your comfort zone and making an additional pledge to this building fund. My challenge to you is not the typical “give until it hurts” but the new challenge “Give until it really FEELS GOOD!”

How does this work? Think about what you spend on Christmas presents. Did you feel better about the ones that you skimped and saved on and gave reluctantly, or the ones where you went all out to give someone something you know they really wanted? It’s the same here – Give until it feels GOOD. It’s like everything else in life, when you really put your heart into it, you feel good about doing it.

Most of you know that Janaan died about two years ago. It hurt me to loose her, and I know that you felt the pain as well, but all of you were still there for me. You encouraged me. You prayed for me. You supported me. That’s what is SO special about this place, the way you cared for me and my family, the way we care for each other. Here’s the thing. Very few of us in this building today actually helped pay for this sanctuary. Families before us did that, building on that same faith that brings us here today. They had the faith and the vision to provide for our needs today. This is the place where we come together to renew our faith, to encourage and pray for each other, and to find strength for the days and weeks ahead. This is our opportunity to make sure that the next generation has the same opportunities we have to worship as Peace Lutheran Church.

Please, join me. Take a deep breath. Stretch a little. Give until it really FEELS REALLY GOOD.

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I’m Wally Vette and I have the honor of being the Church Council President, and this is truly an exciting time for the family of Peace Lutheran.

The letter that Pastor Loy sent over a week ago listed a number of reasons why people give. I’d like to share why Johnnie and I give to Peace and why we will support the capital campaign.

•Through our church home, we have been blessed…we are part of something bigger than ourselves, part of a family with similar beliefs and concerns. 

•We believe in the ministries of Peace.

•Many of these ministries will be supported through the capital campaign, such as improved classrooms for Sunday school and the after-school program. These improvements will help Peace “grow” the youth in our congregation and may attract more young families.

•The Sanctuary’s accessibility will be improved as well as many of the the functional aspects of the church – the baptistery, sacristy, nursery and office areas.

•Peace has given us a home for worship, a home to hear sermons that make us think about the word and works of God, a home to embrace God, not fear Him. I reflect on Sunday’s sermons and the music during the week - this has been a new thing for me since coming to Peace.

We don’t consider ourselves wealthy, but we are very fortunate! We have - a home with heat and cooling, windows and doors that seal out the weather and most of the dust from our winds, cars to drive, and food in our refrigerator and cupboards.  

Johnine and I give to a variety of organizations in the community that we believe do a good job of helping the needy and the young of our community. We give to the Church regularly – we started slowly and have increased our giving each year. And, yes Dan, we give until it feels good.

We believe we have a responsibility to share our good fortune with others and for the next three years we will be making a significant contribution to the capital campaign. 

Johnine and I will be giving to the capital campaign out of gratitude and loyalty for being at Peace and finding our church home. We want to make it even a better place for worship and ministries in the future!

Give what you can – give until it feels good!

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