About halfway through our Stewardship Campaign, I’m gratified at the way people are responding.  Sometimes on Sunday morning I’ll come across two church members in a corner of the church having a quiet conversation and I realize they are having their “one-to-one” meeting.  Folks are getting to know each other more deeply.  Folks are sharing what they love about the church.  Folks are sharing themselves in a beautiful way.

Pledges are coming in.  We’re having a “loverly” time in worship.  The movement of generosity creates its own excitement.  Each member’s annual pledge is an expression of how fully they want to invest themselves in the church:  just a little? With the church held at arm’s length?  Or ten percent more?

The more you give of yourself, opening your heart and spirit to the church, the more you will receive from the church.  Think of the difference you feel between a friend you only ever share small talk with and a true friend you share your life with.  You give a lot, but you get a lot.  Think of the difference between a hobby that you dabble in casually and the extra enjoyment you feel when you give yourself truly to a personal passion, educating yourself, deepening your experience, and sharing your interest with a community.  Think of the difference you feel when you’ve read one book by an author, or when you’ve made a commitment to read every book by that author.

If you’ve had your one-to-one conversation, you’ve spent some time thinking, feeling, and articulating, just what it is about the church that has deep value for you.  Maybe for the first time you put a name to that quality of the church community, or that program we offer, or work we do, that really feeds your spirit.

Maybe it’s worship.  Maybe it’s our children’s RE program.  Maybe it’s the fun we have together through social gatherings, or the comfort we offer each other through pastoral care.  Maybe it’s our work for social justice.  Maybe it’s the opportunity to provide leadership, or share your professional expertise, or pride in the building, or helping the vegetable garden flourish.

Once you’ve made your pledge a next step toward further investing yourself in the church could be finding a way to be involved in that quality or program of the church that most calls to you.  Do you love worship?  Maybe there’s a role for you as an usher, or worship associate.  Do you love the way the community takes care of each other?  Maybe you could volunteer to visit a homebound member once-a-month.  Maybe there’s a spot for you on the Personnel Committee or even the church Board.

Churches depend on the time, talent, and treasure of their members.  The Stewardship Campaign focuses on the necessary “treasure” aspect of pledges.  But there are other significant ways to give.  Whether time, talent, or treasure, the effect is to give of yourself, from yourself, and then to yourself in the form of your church.  Your church.