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| First Congl Church, Darien |
by Rev. Ronald Evans
Any enterprise is built by wise planning, becomes strong through common sense, and profits wonderfully by keeping abreast of the facts.
Proverbs 24: 3-4 (Living Bible)
Some years ago we decided to get with it and replace our typewriters with computers. We thought it an easy sell. Everyone was doing it. It turned out not to be so easy.
Our plan was almost totally undone when, during a Church Council meeting, I said what a great aid this would to record keeping. The response was microchip fast. “Ah ha! Just as we suspected. We’ll no longer be names, only numbers. What’s the world coming to when a church can’t remember our names?” Three years later we installed our first computers, but continued to pen church records very personally with a goose-quill on parchment!
We strive to be personal in all aspects of our church life, including stewardship, and we try to “keep abreast of the facts.” When our annual Stewardship pledge theme is announced and all are reminded of our common need to generously show gratitude for all God’s blessings – not the least of which is life itself – we put up a large bulletin board display in the Parish Hall, with space for the name of each church member. As individual and family gifts and pledges are made, names are posted in the order in which the pledges are received. I would encourage others to do the same, for it “profits (the life of the church) wonderfully.”
When you enter our building you must pass through the Parish Hall to go anywhere else. You can’t miss the bulletin board, or the list of names under the bold heading: “A GRATEFUL CHURCH PROUDLY ADDS THE NAMES OF ALL THOSE WHO HAVE MADE A FINANCIAL COMMITMENT TO THE LIFE OF OUR CHURCH FOR 2005.”
We don’t post the pledged amount, nor do we place names in categories according to the level of giving as so many colleges, social agencies and arts organizations do. So why do we do it? We do it because, as our people reminded us, in a church we are names, not merely numbers, and we think it faithful practice to “keep abreast of the facts.”
Rev. Ronald Evans is Pastor of the First Congregational Church of Darien.
