Of freesh fall mornings and pledge cards

Fall and all of its unique trappings are upon us.  Brilliant colors adorn the trees.  Mornings and evenings invigorate us with crisp air.  Squirrels dart about provisioning for the coming winter.  Football dominates the attention of many.  And we await the arrival of pledge cards. Pledge cards!?!? Yes, pledge cards.

Did you ever wonder why the annual pledge appeal in most churches takes place in the fall?  Look at our own church and you will see that there is a very practical reason.  God has called the members of our congregation together at this unique place, our church, in this time, to do specific work to his glory and in love for his creation. And he has provided an abundance of resources to do that work. But there is a little complication.

When God calls us individually or as a congregation to do his work, he also provides the resources to carry out that work. In the case of a congregation, though, he gives a portion of those resources to each individual member of the congregation.  This provides each of the members of our community the opportunity to express their thanksgiving for God’s abundance and his for his infinite love by dedicating a part of what God has provided them to his work through his church. As a further twist, what God desires that we give to his work in the world is what he gave us for that purpose. In effect, we are just safeguarding it.

You see, what God is really seeking from us is a sign of our love and faithfulness. He could easily provide for his work without giving the money to each of us. But, money is one of the hardest things for us to let go of, even if it is given to us to be applied for a specific purpose. When we freely let go of money with which God has entrusted us to use for his purposes, we also let go of the shackles of our marketplace that promotes a mentality of scarcity.  We boldly state that we believe God’s promises above the seduction of the marketplace.

At the same time that we struggle with money individually, the leaders of our church deal with the responsibility of planning how we will carry out God’s work in the coming year and allocating the church’s resources to support that work.  That is the stewardship of our congregation’s resources by our leadership.  Since churches are typically on a calendar year financial basis, that requires determining in the fall how much of what God has provided the individual members of the congregation for his work they are going to give to the church during the year to carry out that work. Until we tell them with our pledge cards, anything that they project is just an educated guess.

In most congregations, it is often heard that the church is always asking for money.  Just like pledge appeals in the fall, there is a good reason for that. The world’s need for the expression of God’s love and involvement in broken lives is without limit.  He makes every effort to stir us to pass on the financial resources he has provided each of us to support that work. But, the messages of our consumer culture are more demanding, more frequent, and more alluring.  Rarely does any congregation ever have the money that is necessary to do the work to which God has called it? To be heard over the constant noise of the marketplace, the church must repeat its messages regarding our “treasure” frequently.

Here is a final thought as we near the time to prayerfully make our pledges in support of God’s work in our congregation. Some faithful members of the congregation won’t pledge because they honor such a commitment and are concerned that they may not be able to fulfill the pledge that they make. A wondrous thing happens when you pledge, though. Rarely, is anyone unable to make their pledge, unless there is some major upset in their finances? And, if there is, God is right there with those affected and knows their circumstances. There is nothing wrong with revising a pledge up or down as your circumstances change. Again, the pledge is a planning tool for those managing the church’s finances and a spirit-freeing exercise for each person who pledges.

Prayerfully consider the work in the world to which God calls our congregation and what he has blessed you with to support that work.