Delight in Giving, by Paul DeWolfe

On Sunday, November 11, Paul Dewolf spoke in church on our Stewardship Campaign theme, "Delight In Giving."  Here are his words.  Read his words and then reflect on the times and ways you have found delight in giving.  Then we encourage you to make a pledge to the church by going to www.uccmsla.org

"I delight in giving to this church because of the important role it plays in my life. For me, this church is:


• The place where Ellen and I were married

• The place where our daughters were baptized and confirmed

• The place where they learned that we welcome EVERYONE

• The place where our daughter was married

• The place where we have met our closest friends

• The place where we have said our final goodbyes to too many of them.

This church also plays a crucial role in our community. We practice our beliefs at home and abroad. We help to feed the hungry and we help to house the homeless. We provide a place for people living with HIV/AIDS to gather, share a meal together, and support one another. We stand for peace and justice and equality at a time when many want to roll back the hard fought progress gained in our lifetime. We stand as proof that the liberal Christian tradition is still alive in Montana.

I have been a member now for almost twenty years. During those years I have been a member of the Building and Finance Committee, the Cabinet, the last Capital and Mission campaign, and the current Visioning process. This summer I worked with some incredibly thoughtful and dedicated lay leaders from our congregation to help put flesh on the bones of that Vision. I have seen an incredible new energy come into this church and it gives me great hope for its future.

And yet, every year we still struggle to pay our bills. We build a bare bones budget that barely sustains our current programs. I cannot imagine what goes through the minds of our staff every year at this time when they wait to see if the annual campaign will raise enough revenue to pay their salaries. Our youth ministry would not exist if not for a special gift that will soon expire. Every year we struggle to maintain our existing mission commitments when we should be expanding them. I have to believe that we can do better than this. Our membership roles now include over 720 members, but last year there were only 166 pledges that totaled just over $300,000. We have the potential to do so much more at UCC, but not until we can commit the annual resources to make those good works sustainable on a long term basis.

And so I ask you this: If you do not currently pledge to the church, please do. If you currently pledge, please consider increasing your commitment. I suggest we challenge ourselves a goal of 300 pledges and $450,000. Let’s really demonstrate our commitment to this church and its good works. Let’s give it the resource it needs to sustain and grow its service to us, our community, and those who will follow after us. Then we can all share in the Delight of Giving."