2012/2013 Annual Pledge Drive Kick-Off

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2012/2013 Annual Pledge Drive Kick-Off

Sunday, September 16, 2012

9am & 11am

Presentation Script

Dear Audio and Media ministers,

Thank you for assisting me with today’s presentation. This presentation could not be successful without your presence and expertise. I have organized this script to help us move seamlessly through this short presentation.

I beg your indulgence here: Please move from one slide to the next only when I have finished with the last word in each section. Thank you very much for your service and for your help!

Sincerely,

Dan Bohan

First Slide: As Pastor Dan begins his sermon, please make certain the two center wall switches on the wall behind you are in the “off” position.

Then place the title slide for the 2012-2013 Pledge Drive on the screens.

Thank you, Pastor Dan, for that warm introduction.

My fellow congregants, welcome to our kick-off presentation of the 2012-2013 Pledge Drive.

This presentation, organized by the Stewardship Team, has been designed so new congregants may learn something about our church, and others may enjoy a refresher about the church they have made a commitment to in their lives for so long.

This year’s Pledge Drive is entitled “Doing My Part”.

It’s a reminder that each and every one of us has a part to play in the ongoing success and forward momentum of our church and its ministries – ministries which connect us to our creator, to one another, and to the community beyond our doors.

Next Slide: Outstretched Hands

We give of ourselves and our resources in response to God’s goodness and generosity.

Coming to worship each Sunday is a holy act: As we lift our voices in song and prayer and celebration, we strengthen our union with God.

We take that which we value – our time, our attention, our love – and we commit each in Sunday worship with our faith community; building an ever more lasting and profound relationship with God and one another. This commitment is a holy act.

Talk of money during a worship service may cause discomfort to some; it may be jarring and disquieting.

Money is associated with the material world: objects, bills, things which bring us back to earth and away from our heart and spiritual longing.

Next Slide: Bread and Cup of Wine

But just as we bring our gifts of wine and bread to God’s table, we present ourselves as an offering through our financial gifts.

Financial offerings are not separate from our spiritual journey; they are a part of that journey.

Next Slide: Giving is a Holy Act

Giving is a Holy Act. Our offering is a part of worship. It is an act of worship to God.

Money is a material symbol - connected not only to our efforts, but also to our talents and abilities, all of which are unique gifts from God.

Our primary reason for coming to Sunday worship is to find greater connection to God and the Light within us.

Our faith community is spiritual, but is also possesses a necessary financial component.

Next Slide: The Giant Question Mark

And when we know how our financial gifts are being used to do God’s work, we are reinforced in our giving.

Next Slide: Heart Between Two Hands

Our financial gifts enable us to build and maintain ministries, programs, and outreach, in support of God’s work.

The beautiful building in which we sit – and those marvelous ministries, programs and outreach, support a holy mission.

The greater our understanding of this holy mission, the more likely we are to realize the important role we play within it, and the responsibility each of us has to sustain it.

Next Slide: Logos of Community Organizations

Our support enables our church to be a powerful presence in the community.

MCC San Diego was the first LGBT organization to own property in San Diego. Many other organizations were given birth from our church and we were there to support them from the beginning.

Through the giving of our time, talent and treasure, we continue The Met’s tradition of support for the LGBT community.

Next Slide: MCCSD Overview of Expenses Pie Chart

Last year, we set aside 14% of our offerings for the work and global mission of MCC Global Outreach, which serves 222 local congregations and church missions in 37 countries.

Since its founding in 1968, Metropolitan Community Churches have stood at the vanguard of civil and human rights, addressing issues such as racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of oppression.

Where ever there is a need in the world, MCC Global Outreach is there. Through our offerings, we too are there - advancing human rights and social justice around the globe.

26% of our offerings last year were invested in the logistics of the church: including mortgage, facilities-upkeep, and the cost of daily operations; the framework which undergirds everything we do as a faith community.

Next Slide: MCCSD Ministries List

60% of our offerings are deployed to our ministries, and the staff leadership who oversee so many aspects of these ministries, as well as our church’s programs and the outreach which draw us closer to God and one another.

Our church ministries include efforts toward Social Justice, Christian Education, Congregational Care, the nurturance of our children and teens - and of course - our Sunday worship and fellowship activities.

Next Slide: MCCSD Programs and Annual Events

Here at The Met, we have a passion for sharing the Good News of God’s inclusive love for all people.

Through our outreach programs we support organizations such as the Uptown Faith Community Service Center, which provides services to San Diego’s homeless community, and the poor - as well as those with disabilities, including military veterans.

As a member of the Interfaith Shelter Network, we collaborate with other congregations to provide emergency shelter services for the homeless during the coldest part of the year.

Next Slide: MCCSD Staff

The success of our ministries, programs and annual outreach events are made possible, in part, through the extraordinary dedication of our Ministry staff, each of whom possess the character, conviction and competencies - with the gift of God’s spirit - to work joyfully together in realizing God’s purpose.

Next Slide: MCCSD Overview of Income Rainbow Rose Pie Chart

More than 80 cents of every dollar of our income comes directly through tithes and offerings during Sunday worship.

Last year, this amounted to over $300,000, which together with funds committed through the Pillars Club, the marvelous work of our FAB Team and their fundraisers, and the use of Scrip Gift Cards, enabled us to meet 96% of our 2011 expenses.

Each of us is called upon during this year’s pledge drive to continue sustaining our church and its ministries.

I am reminded of a conversation I had with Pastor Dan during one of my first Sundays here at our church last winter, not long after my husband, Leo, and I moved to San Diego so he could begin graduate school.

Next Slide: MCCSD Sustainers “Auto-Checking”

I asked Pastor Dan if it was common within the congregation for offerings to be given automatically.

He told me some people did this - and that he wished there were more.

I told him I would begin giving automatically - through my bank, knowing there would be Sundays I just couldn’t make it to church.

My gift is not in the basket on Sunday morning.

Instead, it arrives each week in the mail, whether or not I am present at Sunday’s service.

It gives me peace of mind supporting the church I have come to love.

Next Slide: “Q and A” slide with MCC logo

Why is it so important for The Met to count on consistent and regular giving?

Without it, funding our current ministries and establishing new ministries becomes more challenging.

Think about it in terms of your own life…

Next Slide: Toddler in a tie

Unpredictable income makes it challenging to meet our obligations, to celebrate our lives and plan for the future.

In our own lives, steady income is indispensable! Receiving a salary - having regular income - can make all the difference.

A steady income and positive cash flow are very important. Without it, we are left to wonder – and worry – about how to create a budget to cover our expenses.

And what is true in our own lives is also true for our church.

In our faith community, funding for our ministries – and planning to expand our ministries beyond our doors and out into the community – is challenged by unpredictable income.

Next Slide: “I Pledge” = “Gratitude for God’s Grace”

But it is a challenge that can be met through everyone doing their part. When we as a community know what we can expect from ourselves - when we pool our collective resources - we essentially provide our church with a salary.

We then place our faith community in a position to dream; to contemplate – and make real – the potential we have to affect the community around us in extraordinary ways.

Next Slide: Stained Glass Cross

This potential helps us to celebrate, and share with others, our church’s inclusive Christian message at a time when non-inclusive Christian messages often dominate the moral debate.

Together, we have the ability to raise the consciousness of our community and our world, and empower people to reject messages which use misguided Biblical interpretation to rationalize intolerance and bigotry – often using words that Jesus never spoke - and all of which Jesus would certainly reject.

Leo and I came to The Met, in part, to find spiritual healing and express solidarity with the inclusive message present here.

But also – very significantly - to stand in formal opposition to those misguided faith communities in which we had each been raised - I, in the Roman Catholic Church, and Leo, within a Pentecostal church community in his native Brazil; a community with a culture so firmly grounded in narrow religious doctrine, Leo was eventually forced to flee.

Indeed, so great was his personal suffering at the hands of his community, that Leo was granted formal asylum by the U.S. government after his arrival here in 2005.

Next Slide: “I Love My Church”

Leo and I sought to counteract the effects of our experiences.

First, by finding spiritual healing within a congregation which accepts us the way God made us.

And second, by standing together with a progressive, inclusive and dynamic Christian church - a church with the moral authority and the institutional power to oppose bigotry by using the words of Jesus as He intended they be used.

That’s why we attend - and support - the Metropolitan Community Church.

While involved in planning for this pledge drive, I decided to sit down and work out what portion of my family’s net income we were committing to our church – to this church.

I confess I had never given it much thought. I discovered it came to just 3%; less than what Leo and I spend on our cell phones.

Staying in touch with God and my spiritual light – and combating social efforts to hijack moral values - are more important to Leo and me than our cell phones.

As the initial phase of this Pledge Drive begins, we are committing to doubling our family’s support of our Christian church – of this Christian church

Next Slide: Thank You Slide

This year’s Pledge Drive is a reminder that each of us, doing our part, has a very personal role to play in these ministries. That with the loving participation of you doing your part, these ministries are made stronger.

And that your deepest personal commitment is what will create an enduring message within the broader Christian community:

That worship, without judgments, and free of sexual prejudice and self-righteousness - where the Scriptures are used not as a weapon to restrict, but as a bridge to understanding between all peoples, all communities, all believers - that message will stand as a personal declaration of your love for yourself - in just the way God made you. And your profound understanding of God’s inclusive love for everyone.

Last Slide: Horn of Plenty and In-Gathering Date. Please leave this in place as Pastor Dan completes his sermon following my remarks.

I ask you to give prayerful consideration to your pledge of support to MCC San Diego, and join us at In-Gathering Sunday on October 7th.

Thank you for letting me express what is in my heart. God bless you.