A Pledge is a Prayer

Good Morning! Hi, everyone!

For those who don’t know me, my name is Ed Nuttall. My only claim to fame is that I serve as your Finance Chairman on the Vestry Committee. I am also a member of the Stewardship Committee, and I am a reader, an usher and coffee maker at the 8 o’clock services….. You know, all my life I’ve prayed asking God if he would someday make me into a real somebody….Well, I can see now that I should have been more specific!!

Anyhow, the reason I am up here talking to you this morning is that this is the time of our church’s annual pledge drive. My objective is to encourage each and every one of you to fill out and return the pledge form that you received in the mail. Speaking of mail, that reminds me of a little story (you probably heard this one but it sure does fit nicely into this talk!):
Reverend Billy Graham tells of a time early in his ministry when he arrived in a small town to preach a sermon. Wanting to mail a letter, he asked a young boy where the post office was. When the boy had told him, Dr. Graham thanked him and then said, "Now, if you'll come to the Baptist Church this evening, you can hear me telling everyone how to get to heaven." The young boy thought about it and then replied, "Well sir, I don't think I'll be there... I mean how can you tell me how to get to heaven when you don't even know your way to the post office?"

Well, I know that all of you know how to get to the post office to mail your pledge forms or that you can simply put your pledge form in the plate on Sunday, and I am not promising you that sending in your pledge will get you into heaven………….. however, I do know that it sure can’t hurt! Pledges have a purpose for our church that is far more than many of us realize: Pledges tell the Diocese how strong, solid and enduring we of Holy Spirit are as a church body and the number of pledges tell them if we are growing and at what rate. Altogether that information helps the Diocese determine what priority to give to Holy Spirit regarding future Diocesan expenditures of time, effort and resources, both physical and monetary. Pledges are also invaluable to our vestry committee in preparing the yearly budget, the annual report and assessing the skills and talents Holy Spirit Church has available not only for accomplishing tasks but also for advice and information. And of course, funding expenses.

One’s attitude toward filling out and sending in the pledge form usually depends on what we think the act of pledging really means. Some think of it primarily as a mandatory responsibility, some as a promise, some a voluntary bill, some a hope or wish, some a charitable gift and some consider pledging as an income tax deduction. Pledging can of course mean all of those things or none of those things. It is all relative to how pledging fits into the life of each person as we are all unique in some way. I would like to offer you another way to look at your pledge, a way in which we all are equal and the same. That is: I would like you to consider looking at your pledge as really being a form of prayer…..a written prayer. I think of it as being similar to the written prayers that the Jews in Israel place into the Wailing Wall. In the same way we are placing our written pledge prayers into the Church of The Holy Spirit. We all know that God answers prayer: sometimes sooner, sometimes later, sometimes yes and sometimes no. But the important thing is that we pray and leave the answer to God. Please don’t worry whether or not you will make your pledge amount. To me, having faith means…….not worrying. Just believe and know that with everyone pledging, the pledge amount total for everyone together will always average out to the right amount. None of us can know the future. Only God can. If your pledge is short one year, the next year you will be over. Presenting your written pledge would be a wonderful way to give a Christmas gift to our Holy Spirit Church. It isn't the size of the gift that matters, what matters is the size of the heart that gives it. Believe it or not even I myself, an esteemed Vestry member, have had a year or two when my pledge has been short. But then, in other years I was over. So, my way of figuring, is that I can always catch up later, if I live long enough. And I plan on living forever. Guess what: so far, so good!! For any person coming short in a given year, yet another person will be over. It all averages out. So, do not be afraid of tomorrow, for God is already there. The more people we have pledging, the more accurate the pledge amount total for the year will be. So this year, please make a special written prayer and place it into the walls of our Church of the Holy Spirit…..that special prayer called a pledge.
Respectfully submitted,

Edward Nuttall - 7 December, 2008