Our annual Stewardship season began Sunday, October 24 and we will celebrate through Dedication Sunday on November 21. This year’s theme from the UCC is Rooted in Love. We ask you to get in touch with your roots in the church recalling a time in your life when the church held its greatest importance for you. Several church members are sharing theirs in worship and the E-word. We hope they will call to mind some of yours.
Stewardship Letter from Your Trustees Stewardship subcommittee:
If you were asked ‘why do you give to your church?’ how would past memories of your journey with Jesus help you find your answer?
We on the Stewardship Committee asked ourselves this question. Here is a summation of our thoughts. We find ourselves motivated to pledge each year because:
» As a community we believe different things, but we share an understanding that there is ‘Something More’. We share a commitment to follow in the way of Jesus.
» Church is where our leadership skills were first named, noticed and nurtured as we were encouraged to claim Jesus as our guide and share him with the world.
» Church challenges us to align our behavior with our values and beliefs, holding us lovingly accountable to being our most authentic selves.
» Through church we are part of a collective body that can bend the arc of the moral universe towards God’s Kingdom for which we pray each week.
Leader Statement from Darlene Riddle
I owe the spiritual roots I have to my mother. It was she who took us seven kids to Sunday School every Sunday. We grew up on a farm in central Illinois, and I’m not sure why my father never attended when we were young, but it was her steady influence that has lasted and served me well all these years.
Stewardship Moment from Jessica Lindblade
I was asked to speak about a time that the church held its greatest importance for me, and I can pinpoint it to an exact date: June 8, 2012. That was the day this church became part of my life and I had never even stepped foot in this sanctuary, nor did I know a single one of you yet.
Leader Statement from Katy Paterson
As many of you know I have very deep roots in our church. I was baptized, confirmed, and married here as were many of my family members. My grandchildren are now sixth generation members. This means I have many, many significant memories of our church. Obviously, the rites performed in our church for my family and me such as baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and funerals stand out. However, I’m unable to choose just one memory.
Stewardship Moment from Phil Davidson
I thought it appropriate to begin with a story that is related to the subject of this statement, at least slightly: A little boy became restless as the pastor’s sermon dragged on and on. Finally, he leaned over to this mother and whispered, “Mommy, if we give him the money now, will he let us go?”
Leader Statement from Jim Delmore
I’ve always liked this quote. For me, one of the ways God seems most real is when I’m around my church friends. These are the ones I see week after week in church, but also people that I work with on church projects, such as repairing the lift, clean-up days, fixing door locks, etc. I’ve met new friends through Trustees, the Foundation, helping the neighborhood, and being a part of Governing Council. As past moderator, I had the chance to get to meet people I wouldn’t have ordinarily talked to.
Stewardship Moment from Donna Schaad
Since my dad was a United Methodist minister, going to church every Sunday was as natural as breathing. We always went to Sunday School, church camp, and youth group. When Ron and I married, my mom said, “We don’t care where you go to church, but try the United Methodist church first.” We did. During our several moves, sometimes we attended a United Methodist church and sometimes we didn’t.
Leader Statement from John DeWaters
Back in 2006 I was fleeing an episcopal denomination I had been a member of, off and on, my entire life. The break had come when the local church, for years a strong and faithful supporter of the denomination, had to reassess its ability to continue to support its hierarchy financially at the requested level. In a confrontation with their representative, we stated that far from continuing to support them, we now needed their assistance. We were flatly rejected.
Stewardship Moment from Sue Kanthak
This is one of the hardest questions to answer. We do things differently. We believe that those living in the Coronado Haskell neighborhood know much better what they need than we do and we can help be a resource for them as they improve the neighborhood from within.
Stewardship Moment from Doug Phillips
I came to Rockford when I was seventeen to start my government sponsored apprenticeship with Volkswagen of America. I traveled back home on the weekends for a while and attended My church. I slowly started to skip Sunday worship – too tired, too lazy, etc. I had lost the connection.
Stewardship Sunday: November 21, 2021
While COVID won’t allow us to share a meal all together quite yet, we will celebrate with pumpkin bars! For those of you worshipping virtually, you may drive through for your pumpkin bar and to drop off your pledge card beginning at 11:30am. What a great celebration of our mission and ministry it will be!