18 months ago I arrived at St. John’s Lutheran Church as the call rostered leader. It has been wonderful being here, even with the welcome we received with the below 0 temperatures to close down school! We have grown together as a mission post in the body of Christ and are doing wonderful ministry together.
And now we are approaching summer, a time when families head to the cabins, and go on vacations. And this is something we need to do. We need to get away when we can for rest and relaxation and time with the family. So go! And remember that you are the body of Christ as you go. You will be sharing His love and grace and mercy with everyone you see and meet.
But as you go, remember we are still here at St. John’s. We are still a part of your life and your faith journey. We will be here, with the same needs we have during the non-summer months. Council met last night and discussed the dwindling checking account. This made me rethink my newsletter article this month, and come into the office and look at some numbers and trends over the time I have been here.
Over the 18 months I have been here, income has been over expenses in 6 months. Which is good, as those spikes can carry us through some of the low spots. And they are what you think they would be, Easter, the car show/auction and November/December. And we are close in the other months.
An easy response to this is, we need more people. Well that is not always a way to solve money issues. As new families do not understand stewardship concepts. I remember the first time I attended worship at a congregation and they started talking about giving. I gave $5 or $10 a week. I did not understand the Biblical basis of giving. And some of our “new” members come from other congregations, and they do have a concept of giving, and stewardship, but maybe life situations right now do not allow for them to give, with children and bills. So more people does not automatically mean more in the plates.
So then we ask our members to give more, when some of us are giving all we can give. And we have given, and have given to special projects and other things the congregation needs. So we just can’t squeeze any more out. And I get that. Some of us are giving all we can.
So what do we do? I wish I had the easy answer and could say, “Here is what we need to do to make this problem go away!” I don’t. So what do we do? Well we start by praying.
Let us all continue to Gather, Grow and Go. Let us gather together for worship and fellowship and building up of each other. Let us grow in our understanding of that we are not giving money to God and trusting Him to do the right thing with it, we are giving back to God what He trusted us with. Let us grow in our discipleship and our relationships with God and each other. And let’s go into the world to share His love and our understanding of the relationship we have with Him and help others have that same thing. But as we go, let us not forget to still be here at St. John’s through our giving. This can be made easy by joining in on the Simply Giving program which allows you to give electronically any amount you would like on your chosen day of the month. This can be set up as a one time giving or a reoccurring giving option. So even when you are away, you can still be here too!
We can all look at what we have been blessed with and pray about how we can be a blessing.
I am ready to buckle down and live into the relationship we have started and build this mission outpost for God. Are you ready to buckle down with me? Let us be a blessing as God has blessed us!
aSacredRebel 