Monday's thoughts

"Your Dreams Become You"

Commitment Sunday is one of the most interesting days in the year for the church. It is a renewal of membership and a reactivation of our passion for the church. It is a standing together and facing the year as a community. It is a time to see the power of the church in a collective sense.

But most of all it is very personal. What we are able to do for the church as we dream through our church says something about who we are. It says we are able to look beyond ourselves and join together with others to conquer some of the most important problems of our society, our nation, and our world.

Our dreams do become us.
What we dream and how we attempt to empower those dreams define who we are and who we are going to be.

Commitment to support the church is very personal. Only the people who need to know to keep the records straight are aware how much we give and how much we pledge to the church. The full time clergy have no idea who gives or how much they give. Ray Miller and Don Richardson are the only people in the church who know the pledge amount and they never share that information. They track our giving and our pledging and help us determine the final budget. That is based on what they predict as trends and potential totals.

Our dreams become us; they say something about us. They speak to us and define us as human beings. Each of us have a claim to the church and its ministry because the church is established to enhance the ministry of each person. It is about all of us together but it is about each of us individually.

Our dreams become us in that they define who we are and not by the amount we give. They define our ability to invest in the future through the church. Each pledge is relative. My large or small pledge can never be compared to someone else. My pledge, your pledge is only related to who we are and what we are capable of giving.

I look forward to next Sunday. There is no room for guilt in our giving. We must give because we want to and because we have a need to invest in the future and in the church. The amount is up to each of us but the power of our church will be revealed in a total that will empower us to do some great things next year and to fulfill our dreams.

Do you have some thoughts about Commitment Sunday? about pledging and the amount? About how this ought to be handled. Write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your thoughts click on the box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.


Charles Schuster