Unearthing God's gifts

In a couple of weeks we will celebrate what God has done at our Annual Meeting. One of the things that always amazes me is the creativity of our members. Nowhere is that more evident than in our stewardship campaign.

Every Fall we put together a campaign that challenges all of us to give generously to the ministry of our church. Now the truth is that most of us believe in the ministry and feel called to support it. The Stewardship Committee doesn't take anything for granted. They want to challenge us to think about God's blessings and ask us to respond to them.

For years we bought a fancy campaign kit. They were nice. They made it easier to run a stewardship drive. But sometimes we came up with our own ideas that were just as ingenious and much more pertinent. Back in 1993 Patty Bell and her committee came up with a campaign the featured puzzle pieces and asked us to think about our giving as pieces of the puzzle that God is putting together. That campaign was featured at the ABCCONN Annual Meeting a year later and it launched a series of programs that we thought up ourselves.

This year's campaign was another good one inspired by Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life. Patricia Ohlund commissioned her daughter to draw a tree and Sandy Stone and I found a bunch of photos that represented our people and ministries. It was great. We also hear three testimonies on how God uncovered our gifts and allowed us to use them in ministry.

As I said, it is amazing to see how much talent and creativity we have in the congregation. No wonder we feel so blessed.

Cal