| 2007 | Cost of Belonging |
Return to Stewardship |
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The Cost and Promise of Belonging to All Saints’ Anglican Church Medicine Hat Many groups and organizations have a member’s fee, or a cost associated with belonging. The fee gives members certain rights and privileges associated with the tenets and/or bylaws of the organization. As long as I have been a member of All Saints’ I have never been told how much I should contribute towards meeting our annual budget needs. Indeed most Churches, as I understand it, do not charge fees or dues. This begs the question: how do we know how much to give? If there isn’t a significant endowment or generous contributions of a few, the church is funded on a hand to mouth basis by those who care enough to financially support it. I know what I have experienced at All Saints’ has greatly benefited my family, and me but I still don’t know what I should give to support its function and work. So I struggle as I try to understand the Cost and Promise of Belonging. For those on Vestry, the worry as each New Year begins is whether or not we have met our Budget and will be able to carry on for another year. Yet, All Saints’ is active, alive, engaged, and is like no other Church in Medicine Hat. Most of us have made a very conscious decision to attend here. By every measure of what I hear and observe we are fed and supported by this Church community, we show great love for each other, and laugh and cry together through life’s joys and sorrows. I really like coming to this place, and if it wasn’t available I would feel incomplete. I am very uncomfortable talking about money and how to support the Church, but because this community of like-minded believers means as much as it does to others, and me here I am! The Cost of Belonging The greatest challenge in bringing up money matters is to provide some sort of guidance on what we should give. As I alluded to earlier, we have no specific standard. We, as Anglicans, do not have a cultural norm to tithe (that is to give 10% of our income) and if the vestry decided that tithing would be the standard, I don’t think many of us would be ready for it nor would we embrace it. With that said, there may be some who already give a collective tithe when one factors in church and the many other charities and needs appeals that are supported. I think our standard is that each of us gives faithfully what we can afford based on a process of discernment and reflection. Most people like such a flexible standard: some may want a more specific guideline. Well, no one has been empowered to tell anyone how much we should give, and each year the Vestry reworks the budget to try to keep us going. Then we usually talk about the need to address the congregation regarding giving and stewardship. More often than not nothing is done and we carry on as in the past and never really address the following questions:
The Promise of Belonging In order for me to talk about supporting All Saints’ with our financial resources, I need to come to some understanding about why belonging is so important in our own lives and why it is important to Medicine Hat and the wider community. Is it possible to be able to realize how I would be less than complete if it wasn’t for this faith community? As I move from here into the greater Anglican and Christian communion am I better equipped to discern God’s love as displayed by Jesus because of the teachings and experience of All Saints’? The Greater World How does All Saints’ factor into the faith understandings of the greater world? When I was a young boy growing up in northern Alberta, I witnessed a new minister being ‘drummed’ out of his Church. He had made the mistake of wanting to make a few small changes in a Church that was totally closed to any new ideas. So rather than try to work through issues he was summoned to a congregational meeting, was confronted, and as he attempted to bring clarity to his purpose was drowned out with foot stomping. I still remember the look in his eyes as he folded up his Bible and walked down the isle out into the morning air. I am so proud that All Saints’ has been able to create a safe, supportive, and nurturing environment where we are able to ask hard questions and even explore the very tenets of the Christian Faith: a place where we are free to explore our spiritual journeys without being hindered by restrictive certainty and dogma. We are encouraged to explore a variety of perspectives regarding faith and belief structures in a world that is becoming increasingly more polarized into camps of opposing points of view. Very prominent lines are being drawn and behind those lines seeds of hatred and mistrust are being sown. This age of religious and political absolutism leaves little room for dialogue to find common ground. This Church, although small and relatively unknown, was founded by persons who wanted a different way: a Church that still values dialogue and questioning, as we individually and collectively walk our spiritual journeys. In many respects we are quite unique and are linked to other Churches like ours that are trying to make a difference in the greater world. I am sure that the very early Church must have wondered how it would survive given all the turmoil surrounding it. In some respect we are like that again. As the loudest voices around us advocate divisiveness, conflict, separation, and the insistent need to be the only correct way, we are part of silent core that would believe it is possible to live together with similar and different viewpoints as believers and non-believers under the canopy of God’s love. This idea we share with that silent core yearns for inclusive mutual respect for differing ideas so we all can live happy and productive lives. It is what our mission statement says to the greater world: All Saints Anglican Church extends the Kingdom of God by being a vibrant Christian community that welcomes diversity and encourages effective participation. Closer to Home I don’t feel right for the week unless I go to Church. I have gotten over the guilt stage where I always felt I was duty bound to go to Church and that something bad would happen to me if I didn’t. Now I just miss it if I am not able to attend. It’s like being able to come home after a long trip, or being able to attend a special party that someone has planned and I have an invitation. I feel comfortable here among people who are all so different from each other yet oddly connected somehow. I come here because the experience helps me on my spiritual journey and when I become distracted there are road signs for me to consider. I am able to use my gifts here and am accepted for who I am and encouraged to become more of who God wants me to be. I am able to share my public side and am never made to feel inadequate about my private side. You all have your own reasons why you attend; I just want to emphasize how fortunate we are to have a worshiping community like this to attend. Cost and Promise In closing I want to encourage you to give what you can to financially support our ability to remain a viable Church and spiritual gathering. More importantly if we are able to share more of who we are with our wider community we may be able to share God’s love more wastefully. The promise is this: what you share of your time, talents, and financial gifts will be used to sustain the faith history of who we are and who we strive to become. I know that this promise has played itself out countless times as All Saint’s has fulfilled the spiritual needs of its membership and those of our community. As I presented in my opening, there may be several ways that might help us have a better understanding of our financial needs and what we have to work with and over the coming months we want to explore some options. Several that come to mind are: planned giving, purposeful giving, and pre-authorized checking. All of these approaches will help with annual planning and rising expenses. Presented by Bill Wahl |
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