Minister's Musing

Rev. Mark Ward
Unitarian Universalist Church of Asheville

December 2009

Money: it’s a topic we dance around at church. After all, people join our congregation for spiritual growth and community, not to find another place to park their well-earned dollars. And yet to provide all that our members seek, we need professional staff and a pleasant, well-kept building. So, we struggle over how to approach this task of raising money to pay for it. It’s hard both because the resources of members of our congregation vary widely, and because people vary widely in their feelings around and comfort in talking about money.

Each year we wrestle with strategies that we hope help all our Members and Friends see the value of being part of this congregation and help them sort through their own priorities and how generous contributions to the church can make a difference in their lives. Fund drives that simply stress financial need can offend people because, clearly, the money isn’t an end in itself. It’s the fuel we need for putting the vision we have for this congregation into action – creating exciting worship and engaging religious education, supporting outreach and social justice, growing a sense of community with spiritual depth, widening our sympathy and deepening our understanding. This is work that we feel is important to the world and so deserving of our generosity.

Part of why the congregation asks for annual contributions from its Members and Friends is that it sees financial support to achieving those ends as the work of us all. Our giving guides are based on percentages, indicating that we consider generosity a reflection not simply of amount, but of what we are capable of giving. We hope that those capable of giving larger amounts will do so. The financial challenges of doing this work are significant. But in the end generosity is a matter not of amounts but of engagement and commitment. There are members of our congregation deeply committed to this community who can barely make ends meet or who face setbacks and struggle to pay their bills. What they have to give to the church financially may be little but they are generous in every way they can be, and they are welcome among us. If you are among those, please know that we as a community want to support you. If you face an immediate financial need, please contact me about how we might be able to help with a gift from our Ministerial Discretion Fund.

Community is built across a diverse spectrum of experience woven together, as our congregational covenant puts it, by the promises we make and keep. Money is part of that: not as an end in itself, but as the fuel that can fire our hopes and dreams.