Pastoral Message Week of the Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost November 10, 2022
Pastoral Message
Week of the Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost
November 10, 2022
Dear People of God at Faith-La Fe!
Even in Arizona, fall is in the air. Yes, as I am discovering, there are seasonal variations here. Thanksgiving Day fast approaches. We are also nearing the end of our church year in terms of our liturgical calendar. Advent begins on November 27 with Christmas following. Perhaps even now you are actively preparing for that season of gift-giving – and likewise anticipating year-end annual gifts to charitable organizations.
Yes, you guessed it, I am going to talk about money in this week’s pastoral message – but in the context of the wider theme of stewardship which involves how we steward, are caretakers of all of God’s many blessings to us. Stewardship is not just about money.
Thus, I invite you to consider your own stewardship of life, but with particular attention to your stewardship in relation to your involvements at Faith-La Fe Church. I marvel that local congregations, as incorporated non-profit organizations, survive, and sometimes thrive, on the voluntary donations of its members. Formal membership in many, maybe most, such organizations requires membership dues, specific amounts members must pay to belong. It used to be that many of our Lutheran ancestors, if they came from Northern European countries, paid a government established church tax to support their local parishes. In the United States, what is given to local churches is simply a voluntary thing – offered the Lutheran way in the freedom of the gospel of God’s grace without stipulated requirements. That churches manage to receive needed gifts is a marvel for which I have been thankful, and from which I have benefited, for my whole career as a pastor.
I’ve been at Faith-La Fe long enough now to be aware of the generosity of so many of our members – not in terms of their financial giving, since I am not privy to that information, but in terms of their – your – in kind gifts. Many of you volunteer to pay for particular events or items used by our congregation. Many prepare and donate food for our social events. Others offer many more hours of free labor to help make church events and ministries happen. And more and more. Your generosity has been much on display in recent weeks as the activities of congregational life have stepped up more than a few notches after the pandemic years of less activity. Such offering of time, talents, and treasures is all stewardship. And clearly Faith-La Fe is a generous congregation. Thanks be to God.
That said, and here comes the money part, it is becoming clear that total financial giving on the part of members is not meeting expenditures. Faith-La Fe does not enjoy the benefit of reserves of cash from which we can draw to make ends meet in tough times. And these are tough times in terms of the persistence of inflation and the ongoing economic effects of multiple, intersecting global crises. Most congregations I am aware of are having a challenging time currently when it comes to member giving matching the budgeted expenses of congregational ministries. Faith-La Fe is not unique in that regard.
In the coming weeks, leaders of our congregation will be in a better position to report in summary fashion the actual state of income from giving and other sources in comparison to our expenses and needs. But I can tell you based on the reporting from our Treasurer at our recent Congregational Council meetings that we as a congregation literally live week by week, often barely having enough money on hand to meet essentials like payroll. It’s all very precarious. You may well know such precarity in your own financial circumstances at home.
Thus, we at Faith-La Fe live by faith, trusting that God will inspire you to provide, even as God supplies so many other benefits to meet our needs individually and communally.
Still, during this coming season of gift-giving, I invite you seriously to consider the nature and extent of your own financial giving to our congregation, and what that might also look like in the coming new years, both liturgically speaking in terms of the church calendar and with the start of a new calendar year, 2023. And please take up this discernment with the precarious financial state of our congregation in mind, as the need for more plentiful cash-flow is urgent.
Is it thinkable for you to consider an increase in your financial stewardship at Faith-La Fe? Or how about foregoing those splurges on coffee or tea or other discretionary spending habits and devoting that cash to an increase of your offerings to our congregation? If seventy-five members, for example, gave an average of an extra $10 or $25 a week, some more, some less, that would mean an increase in weekly offerings of $750 to $1875 – a big help toward our making ends meet when it comes to cashflow. There are many creative ways to do this kind of math, but it all can add up to making a significant difference in the financial viability of our church. A modest increase, if enough people join in the effort, can go a long way toward improving our congregation’s financial health and viability.
You can do your own math based on your own specific circumstances, as all of this varies greatly from member to member, family to family. We are quite a diverse congregation socio-economically speaking. Again, I invite your musing on and discernment of the possibilities of an increase in your weekly offerings. Remember that if most all of you can increase your giving even a bit, together we can make a big difference.
Moreover, I invite you to be in conversation with me about your creative ideas for enhancing and enriching stewardship in our life together. If you have ideas about how to motivate more giving among members, or ideas about fund-raising events and initiatives, seek me out for conversation in person or via email or phone. In the coming year, we’ll need to put our clever heads together to tackle the question of our holistic approaches to stewardship at Faith-La Fe.
But most of all, for right now, let your thinking and considerations about your own stewardship be guided by and inspired by your appreciation of, your thanksgiving for God’s lavish blessings on you individually and on us communally. May your giving always be done as a way of your saying thank you to God for blessings that overflow.
Appreciatively in Christ, and with the plea for you to take to heart these reflections,
Pastor Jonathan Linman
Pastor’s Office Phone Number: 602-265-5860
Email: pastor@faithalive.com
Announcements
An Additional Counter Team Desired
Many hands make lighter work. For that reason, and for the fact that best practices call for counting and depositing our offerings weekly, we are seeking additional volunteers to serve as a second team of those who count and then deposit our weekly offerings. Those interested will be given appropriate training. Please speak to Treasurer, Dave Hulin, if you feel drawn to this particular service, or otherwise might be talked into it!
Faith Community Garden – Gardeners Invited!
If any member wants to claim some garden space to grow your own fresh vegetables, please contact Gail Turner (gmturner0123@aol.com) or Jan Hulin (janhulin@cox.net) for details…the gardens are ready!”
Looking to Advent and Christmas
Mark your calendars now and await further descriptive word about the upcoming events for Advent and Christmas:
Wednesday evenings in Advent – Soup Dinner at 6:00 pm with Worship at 7:00
November 30 – St. Andrew, Apostle
December 7 – St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan
December 14 – Advent Lessons and Carols presented by the Chancel Choir
December 21 – La Posadas, with dinner following worship
Sunday, December 11 at 7:00 pm – Celebrating the Feast of the Virgin of Gaudalupe
Saturday, December 24 at 7:30 pm (with special prelude music beginning at 7:00 pm) – Christmas Eve Worship in English
Sunday, December 25 at 9:00 am (in English) and 11:00 am (in Spanish) – Worship on Christmas Day
Wednesday, December 28 at 7:00 pm – Observance of “Blue Christmas” also commemorating The Holy Innocents, Martyrs
Sunday, January 8 at 9:00 am (in English) and 11:00 am (in Spanish) – Feast of the Epiphany (transferred)
Arizona Charitable Giving Tax Credit
A member of Faith/La Fe reminds us that the state of Arizona offers tax credits ($400 for single filers and $800 for joint filers) for charitable contributions to 501 (c)(3) organizations. Here’s a link for further information: lss-sw.org/donate
Schedule for the Coming Week
Sunday, November 13
9:00 am – Worship in English
10:15 am – Worship Matters Adult Forum
11:00 am – Worship in Spanish
Wednesday, November 16
10:30 am – Bible Study/Lectio Divina (in person and via Zoom)
6:00 pm – Bible Study/Lectio Divina (in person and via Zoom)
Sunday, November 20
9:00 am – Worship in English
10:15 am – Worship Matters Adult Forum
11:00 am – Worship in Spanish