Stewardship 2024
Cultivation: Creating Intentional Community
During our 2024 Stewardship campaign, we ask you, the Congregation, to make a pledge to support our beloved, Intentional Community.
Intentional communities are groups of people who share common facilities and resources, often with the goal of pursuing a shared lifestyle or set of values. The Bible has many examples of intentional communities, such as the early Christian church in Acts 2:42-47, which describes how the believers “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the community, to their shared meals, and to their prayers” and “were united and shared everything.”
While we don’t live together at First Congregational Church, we do share common facilities and a common set of values that encourages exploring our relationship to God and to each other. Having “re-set” our table last year, this year we have begun to cultivate with our new ministerial staff led by Jennifer and Kyle. Additionally, with our new board structure, the goal is to help us to evolve into an intentional future with the hope and belief that others will be attracted to our community as we continue in our evolution.
Based on these ideals, the theme of this year’s Stewardship campaign is “Cultivation: Creating Intentional Community.” Our goal this year is two-fold: to continue to increase the number of pledges, and to increase total pledging so that we can adjust for the 7% inflation of the past two years.
First Congregational Church needs a solid foundation of pledges to not only help us now, but also for our future generations.
Many of our Congregants ask us where this money goes. The numeric details are there for all of us to view during our annual meeting, but we are approaching it in the way that Lynne Twist discusses in her book, “The Soul of Money,” which is that money is like the flow of water. “It’s possible to have money flow in a way that serves our highest ideals and commitments.” FCC’s pledge money flows into many different streams. It provides:
Spiritual support when we need it.
A sense of community bonded by our concern for social justice.
Leadership in our secular communities as we bring our spiritual life with us.
An incubator for new ideas to aid those in need in our wider community.
A new spiritual home for people who are new to our area or seeking a change.
Although Dedication Sunday is October 29, there are several opportunities and ways to submit a pledge. You may make your pledge confidentially in any of the following ways:
Fill out the form below.
Email Ana Soler, our bookkeeper, at bookkeeper@fccofwestfield.org.
Return the pledge card by mail or in the collection plate by Dedication Sunday, October 29.
We look forward to seeing all of you on October 29.
Peace,
Joe Masterson and Scott Adams
Board of Care and Community
2024 Pledge Form
Please use this form to submit your 2024 Pledge for the Stewardship Campaign. If you have any questions, or need assistance with the form, please reach out to our Bookkeeper, Ana Soler, at Bookkeeper@fccofwestfield.org. Thank you for your support!