Stewardship

As a member of the global United Methodist Church – what some of us refer to as “the connection” – about 10 percent of Holy Covenant’s yearly income is given to support the work of the UMC around the world. But what is that work, exactly? I know it is a question that often comes up. And, because our work of reconciliation is at odds with the current teachings of the global church, many of us wonder if we are contributing to the forces working against biblical obedience and inclusion. Every time I hear these questions individually, I will say “there are so many great things that happen out of love in the UMC,” and I will name a few examples. And every time I do that, those who ask the questions say “More people should know this.” That is a very good point. More people should know. You should know.

So, beginning with worship this week, and on every second Sunday throughout the year, we will be highlighting the amazing ministry that is happening because of your gifts and our connection to the global UMC. We will also be collecting an offering specific “Global Sharing” offering to go toward our responsibility to these ministries. These great ministries of mercy, justice, faith sharing, and leadership development would not be possible without the support of local congregations like Holy Covenant.

This month, our focus will be on the UMC’s dedication to improving Global Health; specifically the “Imagine No Malaria” Campaign. What began with bed nets for at-risk people in Africa has now become a push to end Malaria deaths by the year 2015. While this may seem ambitious, the UMC’s leadership on this has the backing of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The World Health Organization, and the United Nations. It is possible. And it is measurable. Holy Covenant’s share of this cause can save the lives of more than 100 children in the next year, with the possibility of millions in the years to come.

You will have the opportunity to contribute to the improvement of Global Health this week in worship. But you can also give online by selecting the “Global Sharing” line.

Thanks for all you are doing to help, and thanks for making it possible for us to live out that ambitious part of our mission statement: Change the World.

Peace,

Pastor Matthew

Next week:
Ministry Intern Britt Cox will be sharing her thoughts, observations and experiences as she travels in the Israel and Palestine. Be sure to check out this space over the next two weeks to learn more. And if you have questions for Britt as she travels, feel free to submit them to us.

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The shopping, buying, giving, going, celebrating, and all else that comes with this season were for me wholly overrun by the events in Newtown, Connecticut, last Friday. In addition to shock and deep sadness, my initial response to this tragedy included a sense of helplessness: the suffering was too great, and I was too small, too far away, to make any difference. I have felt similarly about other episodes of violence and about natural disasters that bring great suffering and hardship to people and places around the globe. The problems seem too massive and complex for me to be able to help.

On further reflection, I realize I can and do help in a small way, however, without ever going to the site of the tragedy – and so can you. A portion of the money we give to Holy Covenant goes to support the work of the larger United Methodist Church, enabling both ongoing work for peace, justice, and human rights and response to specific situations like the Newtown shootings. The denomination promptly created a prayer wall on Facebook, and is preparing to place messages of hope and support (pdf) in local newspapers. The United Methodist social action agency has recognized the opportunity to address gun violence that comes out of this tragedy and is organizing a letter-writing campaign to Congress, the President, and other national leaders calling for universal background checks for gun purchases and a ban on assault weapons.

The Holy Covenant family responded generously and admirably to the church’s recent financial needs, but we are still short funds needed to complete our connectional support for causes like those noted above, and many other ministries and mission efforts around the globe. You can help by sending a gift to Holy Covenant marked for “global missions” or making an online gift in the “Special Apportionment Appeal” category within the next three weeks. Your gift will be doubled by church members who have agreed to match what is given! This is a great opportunity for us to expand our Christmas giving to meet needs of people we will never meet, in places we may never go.

Dale Jones

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Sunday, November 11, 2012
Holy Covenant UMC
Rev. Matthew Johnson, preaching

Mark 12:38-44

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I had the occasion to get out of town a couple of weeks ago and visit a friend in North Carolina. It was just a couple of days, but it was a wonderful trip. I had the opportunity to get away from the regular noise of my life and really listen to God. It ended up being true sabbath.

But to get there I had to travel by air. I know this is something many of you do all the time, but I tend to avoid it. It is difficult for me to imagine something that I agree to do being any more dehumanizing to myself than air travel. Willingly, I arrive hours early for a flight that will take less time than it took me to get to the airport. And when I first arrive at the airport, I have to strip down and go through security. And I do this voluntarily.

Because, darn it, there is an overpriced Chili’s on the other side of that security checkpoint and I want nachos. So, I start disassembling myself. Anything shiny that may distract the TSA agents or their machines has to go in a bucket. My coat goes in a bucket. My shoes go in a bucket. My belt goes in a bucket. And of all the things they could take from me … of all the shiny objects they could examine … my belt may be the most important thing I carry with me. It keeps my pants up. Mind you this is the first time I’d flown since they got those new soul-snatching, full-body scanners. Which means I wasn’t quite prepared to have to put my hands above my head while my nether regions were scanned.

So on file somewhere, in some government computer, is a three dimensional image of me and my innards that looks a bit like a guy raising the roof while sitting on the toilet. Sigh.

After that, I grab all my stuff like I’ve been kicked out of my apartment, reassemble whatever dignity I have left, eat my nachos, stand in line at the gate, I get on the plane like a little sausage morsel, I put my bag overhead, I sit down. And I close my eyes. And I take a deep breath. And when I open my eyes, there is a hand near my face.

“Hi, I’m Edith!” comes a voice from the head attached to the hand. “What’s your name row buddy?”

I wish, in that Skymall catalog, they would sell some sort of invisibility cloak. Or a mute button.

So I tell her my name, and then she tells me where she is going, and I do the same. And then I close my eyes. The thing about being a pastor on an airplane is, when I get outed as being clergy, it always ends up looking like a two-hour pastoral care session. So I keep my eyes shut. And Edith seems to have gotten the message that I would really just like to be silent. And not another word is uttered from our row for five blissful minutes.

But then the guy sitting right behind me introduces himself to his seatmate, and he tells her that he’s a pastor. You’d be hard pressed knowing it the way he speaks to her. She is a 20-something foreign national … from Germany, and all he does is assault the policies (past and present) of her homeland. Taxes. Currency. Education. The world wars! Like she had anything to do with those. Not once does anything pastoral come from his mouth. (more…)

It is hard to believe that fall is nearly upon us. But when I think about all that the Spirit of God has allowed to happen in the life of our community, it is hard to believe that less than a year has passed. In worship, we have invoked the name of God and welcomed the Fab Four, peace activists, community organizers and rabbinic insight. We created and sustained a unique Wednesday experience during Lent and Eastertide that gained us national attention. Sunday evenings have become a magnet for leaders all over the denomination seeking to learn how to be more authentic to faith in their own cities. Marching, advocating and fervently praying, we began to own our nature as citizens of a city caught in the midst of an epidemic of violence. We have been noticed by leaders in our neighborhood as a powerful ally in the work of housing equality, health care, and economic justice.

We continued to give witness to our understanding of the Gospel and our baptism that calls us to renounce the institutional wickedness that perpetuates the belief and practice that some of God’s children are incompatible with our faith. We joined our feet, voices, and rainbow t-shirts in leading a city-wide celebration of pride in the uniqueness of our creation. We, literally, opened our doors in perpetuity by turning them into the the table of Jesus. We’ve retreated to the woods of North Carolina to find our place in the greater movement toward inclusive theology and radical faith practice. All of this happened before Labor Day.

With great concern, however, our financial support has not been equal to our fervor and energy for community, mercy and justice. Our most recent figures (end of July 2012) have us facing the reality 15 percent deficit. This shortfall comes at a time when we have been practicing miserly spending. Staff and lay leaders have foregone claiming expenses. Necessary repairs are being mended with temporary fixes. And now, leadership is facing some big decisions around how to plug this hole before the year ends. It may mean reduction in our staff size and their compensation. It may mean unfulfilled promises to our mission partners within the global community. It will most certainly mean limiting the possibilities of what we do in the future.

I invite you to consider how you might connect the actions of your bodies and the words from your mouths with the practice of your giving. Because we still have a lot planned. There is U2 Eucharist, the All Saints celebration, a mission trip to help with HIV/AIDS in Florida, an Alternative Giving Fair, baptisms, community meals, visioning conversations, Advent and Christmas. And we still have a mission to fulfill: seek God, love all people, change the world. Let us be blessed by sharing of our whole community and the whole of our individual personhood so that mission is more than what we say. If we make our mission how we live, we can change for fall forecast into one of thanksgiving and hope.

Peace,

Pastor Matthew

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Sunday, August 26, 2012
Holy Covenant UMC
Rev. Matthew Johnson, preaching

Psalm 24:1-6

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Well, friends. The impossible happened on Friday. It became official: my family has a kindergartner in it. God help us. I took Libby to her new school on Friday for her “drop-in” day.

Nothing quite like having more than 75 people packed into a room with an overtaxed air conditioner. It was loud, and hot, two factors that made you wonder: is all this furniture really that small, or am I having a heat-stroke induced panic attack? Thankfully, it was only an hour. because it was a bit overwhelming for parent and child.

During the hour, we had to help our kindergartener (trouble saying that) navigate a room-wide scavenger hunt. She had to find her locker, and her nametag at her table; she had to find crayons to draw a self portrait, and get the contents from her mailbox. Then she had to answer the question of the day, and finally visit and play in all the activity centers in the room. Hard work!

After dragging her away from the kitchen, she gravitated towards a spot with a toy train. There, she proceeded to try and have a dialogue about sharing with the other child there. That went nowhere, so she went to “plan b” (trying to take by force). And when that plan failed, she went to “plan c” (c for crying).

“He won’t share and I want to play!” she said through a quivering lip and crocodile tears.

From there, it was off to the blocks. She had been admiring the handiwork of some twins who seemed set on finishing the tower of babel (or really liked seeing things fall). She grabbed five blocks and began to build a footing for her own tower, only to have one of the twins take the top block and step on the remaining structure. “He took my blue block!” she said through the same lip and tears.

Thank goodness it was only an hour. I was exhausted after the whole thing. She was an emotional mess. I was embarrassed by both her behavior and that of the other kids. And as we walked to the car, it dawned on me: I can’t get my daughter to live in a simple spirit of sharing. How on earth am I going to preach on Sunday about the radical idea of Christian stewardship? (more…)

As the challenging season of Lent continues to lead us to the cross, I find it hard not to get caught up in the story of Jesus and his times of trial. I am overcome with the love he displays and shares; a love that leads him to death. But I am also overcome by how that love leads him then to a new life that is beyond what I can imagine; a life resurrected. That resurrected life gives me hope for my tomorrow and that of our community. Thank you for being an important part of a community that lives in that hope all week long!

Hope Is Alive at Holy Covenant!
Over the past four months, we worshiped every Sunday; come snow, ice, the Superbowl, or the Academy Awards, we still gathered to praise God for the wondrous gift of our life together and be challenged to live into our mission. We welcomed the Beatles into our sanctuary in a worshipful manner that had leaders in churches 100 times our size saying they couldn’t have done as well. Almost 300 people worshiped with us for their first time. We shared nearly 75 loaves of communion bread, most of which were baked in our community’s kitchens. We added a Wednesday night worship service.

More than 100 small group, education, and fellowship meetings happened in that time with well over 900 in total attendance. We welcomed two new staff members who have committed themselves to the community from day one. From early morning coffee to the twilight pub gatherings, our congregation made a public witness to our mission all day and then some.

We shared our building with the community to help with addiction recovery. It has also been an inspiring space for rehearsals and performances of critically acclaimed theatre. Through our mission team and our partners at Dignity Diner and Humboldt Park Social Services, we prepared and served more than 1,200 meals. Through your donations, we purchased tables that will allow us to share hospitality with more Dignity Diner guests. We wrote a stack of letters to General Conference delegates. We collected books by the boxful for our city’s underserved youth. We gave nearly $9,000 to local and international mission projects.

This is who we are. Together, we share stories. Together, we share life. Together, we live in grace. And we experience the joy of resurrection again and again. And this is all because of the generous grace God placed in your heart to be a steward of our mission, vision and ministry. Thank you for helping to make all this possible.

Looking Forward
We entered 2012 cautiously optimistic about what the year could hold. We crafted a budget that was both faithful and frugal, allowing us to operate a whole congregation at costs lower than many Lincoln Park household incomes. While our income is less than expected at this point in time, I and your volunteer leadership believe we can overcome this shortfall. Whether you are a part of a long-time pledging household, new or renewed in your pledging, or a sporadic giver, your contributions are the lifeblood of our shared ministries and faithful witness to Chicago and beyond. And, If you are not currently giving in a planned way, we want to take this opportunity to encourage you to do so. There is still time to have a big impact on 2012. With just eight new pledges of $100 per month or more our deficit will be covered!

Beyond the Pledge
We are not opposed to one-time gifts. In fact, there are many times throughout the year when ideas and programs develop that are not included in our budget. I encourage your leadership and staff to dream dreams and see visions, but we don’t always have a way to pay for the gifts of their imaginations. If you’d like to get behind one of these start-ups, contact us for a list of the opportunities that are waiting for a partner like you to make happen.

One pressing issue we face right now is funding a sum of $29,000 that your leadership built into the budget to prevent reductions in the kind and frequency of ministry you enjoy. By and large, this amount funds the salaries of your staff and the amazing work they do in music leadership, small group organization and administration. Regardless of your current giving status, I would ask that you please consider making a one-time contribution of $200 or more to this special effort. Emily and I will be doing so in addition to our tithe. If every Holy Covenant household does so, we will raise DOUBLE that amount. Think about all the ministry we could do with an additional $29,000!

Below you will find a form by which you can designate a special one-time gift, make a pledge toward the 2012 general budget, or increase your current pledge. Simply print it out and bring it into church or drop it in the mail. You may also set up electronic giving and share your gifts online.

I hope you will prayerfully consider how you are being called to serve and act as a steward of God’s gifts this spring, and I look forward to continuing the blessed work of sharing in your faith journey. What a joy it is to live in a community that has been given so much, and to participate in a congregation that has so much to give! I thank God and you for both.

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Matthew

YES! I want to share what God has given me to further the mission of HCUMC!

Enclosed you will find my gift of:
[ ] $500
[ ] $300
[ ] $200
[ ] Other $_______

I would like to increase my pledge by
[ ] $100/week
[ ] $50/week
[ ] $25/week
[ ] Other $______

I am not currently pledging but would like to begin! Please accept this first installment of my pledge for:
[ ] $200/week
[ ] $150/week
[ ] $100/week
[ ] Other $____

My name is Liz Dierbeck, and I give because I’m a member of the Holy Covenant music ministry.

I don’t really remember my first Sunday here, but I do remember feeling instantly at ease in this place, and impressed that a near-majority of each worship service was sung. That was the part I missed the most, when I didn’t belong to any church. Offering up harmonies from within the congregation is very Methodist, to be sure … but for those of you who haven’t tried it, I am here to tell you that being up in front as a member of the choir is pretty incredible. You can feel the Holy Spirit at work up there. Last week’s U2 Eucharist is a prime example: the veil was pretty darn thin.

Not only do we have incredible talent within our own church family, we have an amazing leader in Andrew Collins. You just never know what Andrew will come up with next! He pulls out familiar favorites just as often as he tries out contemporary songs, puts new twists on traditional hymns, and writes Scripture-inspired lyrics set to tunes you hear on the radio. He arranges, records, rehearses and performs — even the soprano line.

If I can’t predict what I’ll be singing the following Sunday, what I *can* count on, is that it will be fun to sing, and perfectly in line with that day’s spirit and message. In order to bring that kind of life to 3 services 52 weeks a year (plus some), we need people like Andrew, Rebecca, and Cassie inspiring and engaging us at every turn. To be able to provide this vital aspect of worship, Holy Covenant needs me to give — not just my time and my talent, but also my means — on a regular basis. I don’t really miss the money anymore, when it is withdrawn from my checking account each month. But I sure would miss singing like John Wesley taught us: “lustily, and with good courage.”

Why I Give

When asked to comment on why I give financially to Holy Covenant, I thought first of considerations that are not the reasons I support Holy Covenant:
- A surplus of money. With two sons in college and, at the moment, two mortgages, there seem to be plenty of destinations for my dollars.
- For the income tax deduction. While I’m grateful for the deduction for charitable contributions, the taxes saved are a minor portion of the total dollars involved, not alone adequate reason for contributing.
- To prevent feeling guilty. Since guilty feelings about other things I don’t do consistently (like daily meditation, regular exercise, taking time to express caring and affirmation) have not driven me to correct to those omissions, I doubt guilt avoidance would be sufficient motivation for giving either.
- Because Holy Covenant needs the money. In fact, it does. No matter how frugally it operates any vital, active congregation or other organization needs funds to function. But myriad organizations are engaged in worthy, needed efforts that also require operating funds, and I don’t give to all of them.

So why give to Holy Covenant?

In my few years as part of this congregation, I have listened as people share their stories in small groups, during Sunday services, and in informal conversations. Frequently they say things like, “This church changed my life.” Or, “This church saved my life.” “I have been accepted here for who I am and as I am.” “Holy Covenant has been my way back to God.” I can’t help but want to support such experiences, for others and for myself.

After the fact, I do not always feel gratified by some of the ways I spend money. When the market crashed two years ago, and we watched our 401(k)s drop to 201(k)s, I questioned having pumped money into my retirement account. Some concerts, dining experiences, gadgets acquired or other purchases – even some donations – have been disappointments in retrospect. But I have never had one moment’s remorse about what I have given to Holy Covenant. In fact, I am increasingly convinced that the best hope for the world – for meeting human needs, saving the planet, achieving justice, as well as finding personal meaning and joy – is through God’s presence touching lives like ours through faith communities like Holy Covenant.

Your and my financial gifts not only enable ministry among our fellow church-goers, but impact lives throughout the community. They combine with the gifts of others to bring help and hope throughout the world. Perhaps most importantly, giving transforms us individually. Winston Churchill reportedly said: “We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.” During this time of focus on Stewardship, we are invited not just to give but to live, and in our living, to bring life to others as well.

Let me start with a few confessions.

Every month, I give money to a gym that I hardly ever use.

Every month, I pay for my Netflix membership–even though the same DVD’s have been sitting in their envelopes for weeks and weeks and weeks.

Every week, I say that I am going to pack my lunch for work and stop going to out to eat so much–and then it slips my mind and I am back again grabbing a pizza puff from across the street.

I own two coffee makers but I still stop at Starbucks almost every morning.

A few days ago, I went at the new Apple store and came this close to buying a new shiny pretty gadget to replace the old shiny pretty gadget that I bought a couple of years ago.

I say all of this not to say that I have money that I can just throw around. That’s not true at all. I have more resources than a lot of people and less resources than a lot of people.  I say all this to show you just how off my priorities can be when it comes to the way I spend my money. I spend money on things I don’t need or don’t use. I spend money on things that I don’t want.

One of the reasons that I give to Holy Covenant is because I recognize how off kilter these priorities are. Giving is a spiritual discipline and like all of the disciplines, I believe that giving helps me to have better priorities.  Just as fasting shows us that God is the God of the food we eat and sabbath-keeping shows us that God is the God of the the days of the week and the way we spend our time, giving is teaching me that I should let God guide the way that I spend money.

We live in a world saturated in consumerism and a culture that says over and over again that the rich are better people and that the poor deserve their fate and that the beautiful brown coat that I’ve been wanting from Banana Republic really and truly would make me a better, happier person.

Giving is hard and I fail at it a lot of the time.

Slowly, but surely though, God is using my commitment to the pledge I made last year to teach me to let go of the brown coat and the shiny pretty new gadget.  Every month, when I sit down to pay my bills, God uses the practice of giving to Holy Covenant to make me slow down as I rush through the online bill pay site, and remember that God is the God over my wallet and my bank account.

In January of 2009, I attended my first service at Holy Covenant. I walked in a bit terrified, having been without a church community for over 10 years. That day, the sermon centered around how “the church” has been un-Christian when it came to issues of sexuality. I’ve never sat inside the walls of a church where this topic has been talked about with such respect and sensitivity. That day forever changed me. For the first time in my life, I realized that I could feel at home in a place of worship and continue to grow deeper in my faith without having to constantly defend who I was as a person.

Holy Covenant has provided me countless opportunities to grow spiritually, and to feel empowered to create change in the world. Through its work as a reconciling congregation, Holy Covenant provides a community of faith for people of all sexualities and gender-identities. Holy Covenant firmly asserts that all children of God are of sacred worth and cannot be separated from the love of Christ because of anything. Through Dignity Diner, Holy Covenant provides meals to Chicago’s homeless and hungry every Tuesday night. Through its small groups, members of our community constantly challenge one another to dig deeper in faith, and never stop studying the life and teachings of Christ. Three dynamic services fill up our worship on Sundays. Through the music, various sermon series and special services, Holy Covenant provides a worship experience that is truly engaging, relevant and uplifting.

Providing such amazing ministries does not come without a price tag. As most churches do, Holy Covenant relies on the generosity of folks who call this church home. Each month for the last year, I have committed myself to giving a minimum amount, with the hope that I’ll give a little more each week. Some weeks are harder than others, but I truly believe that giving back to a place that has provided me with so much is one of the most important things I can do.

Holy Covenant is a place that lives out its mission to seek God, love all people, and change the world. It’s empowering to be part of such an amazing community. I give, if for no other reason than because I can’t imagine my life without this place.