Dear Patient Pledgers:

In the next week or so, members and friends of FPCLG will receive their pledge cards for 2021. Like everything else in the days of the pandemic, traditional rhythms of stewardship and pledging seem weird. Why give to an institution that primarily underwrites the expenses of a facility we cannot currently use to its fullest and a staff hemmed into phone calls, emails and virtual screen-boxes with mediocre audio? 

It reminds me again of how financial stewardship (a euphemism for giving to the church) is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, the pastor and those working with the stewardship campaign are seeking to separate you from your hard-earned cash in order to support the great work of the church; on the other hand, those who administer these generously contributed gifts must also demonstrate their best stewardship of how those funds are used. I use the sword analogy because in both cases the operative question is, “What should we cut?” Add to this the swirling external realities of political and financial uncertainty, and thoughts of planning for anything in 2021 seem naively quaint. What have we learned from 2020? We have been schooled in the fragility of expectation. 

In the past I have mused about the origins of pledging. It became common at the beginning of the last century to prevent impulsive generosity inspired by manipulative emotional appeals. Pledging was meant to assist donors in giving all they could realistically afford, thoughtfully budgeting in the context of their personal and household need. No gift to ministry should leave the giver perilously impoverished. The story of the widow quietly contributing all that she had to the temple treasury (Mark 12.41-44 and Luke 21.1-4) while the gifts of the wealthy were lauded was not just a story about her mighty faith; it was also an indictment of the institution that honored quantity over quality. I believe the presumption of our FPCLG institutional stewards should be that each and every gift reflects the best hope and faith of the giver.

And so, I suggest the following rubric as you consider your 2021 pledge: prayerfully discern the amount you know you will not regret, a level of regular giving that will neither overtax your daily needs nor under support the congregation you love. If your capacities change during the coming year, then modify your offerings as necessary. But more than that, consider pledging something more valuable than money: your time and your attention. Commit yourself to reaching out to others in the congregation and community; pledge your prayer, your encouragement and your patience to those who need it most. These are gifts we can budget without anxiety, promises we can keep regardless of what financial uncertainties may be ahead. These gifts will allow us to be the church, with or without financial abundance. 

Pledging our leadership will work out the details in the days ahead, I remain,

With Love,
Jonathan Krogh
Your Pastor