From a Lay Leader's Desk

Dear Siblings in Christ,

 

Take a look around you; God is doing many a new thing. Summer is transitioning into Fall and bringing pumpkin spice lattes along. Mother Nature is transitioning from summer heat to cooler windier days. Our Church is also in constant transition—from being programmatic to intentionally relational, from living in scarcity to being grounded in our abundance, from being Clergy-centered to Christ-centered—activating the call in each of us in order that more people come to know Jesus and rediscover community, justice and love.

 

Our Synod-wide focus on relationship challenges each of us to reach across whatever differences we may have, to meet our neighbors and to be a faith community that is radically welcoming to all people and all of creation. The goal is to not exclusively raise the level of giving; rather, the goal is to grow in faithfulness to the Gospel. Our generosity brings purpose to people’s lives. When we are faithful and intentional, people have the opportunity to see God differently through us, and our ministries become advocates working on the behalf of all. 

 

Michael R. Ward, in his book Abundance, Creating a Culture of Generosity, states that “Generosity is proclaiming what we believe in such a way that we offer other people an opportunity to participate with us in our vision and mission.” The key is to join in the journey and release the assumption that you don’t have anything to offer. This opportunity, to be faithful to our mission, requires us all to do our part. If you are asking, “How can I be involved?,” I invite you into the journey to share, learn and provide generously in three ways:

 

1. Take “God’s Love Made Real” survey: https://dev.barnasurveys.com/Interview/20ea355a-78c4-47a3-9db4-c37a77e287d6 

 

 

3. Listen & Share. Listen to those who are different from you. Share what you are doing and what is working well to grow and strengthen your faithfulness to the Gospel.

 

The strongest demonstrations of our belief are the acts of giving and sharing that we do, in order to live like Christ in our communities.