Giving Again

It’s that time of year again. Chicago Public Radio just finished trying to raise 10,000 members during its ten day pledge drive. I’m getting letters from places like the Denver Food Pantry, The Academy of American Poets, and the Greater Chicago Food Bank, all non-profits I’ve donated to in the past. This will only continue as the Christmas giving season approaches, and people make last attempts to get tax-deductible donations before the new year comes around.

Fundraising is also going on at a lot of churches as the fiscal year comes to an end and annual pledges are tallied. And a lot of churches are struggling, especially those with small congregations or those not affiliated with a national or global denomination.

Trinity Episcopal, my church in Aurora, has been struggling for some time. We’ve had help from grants to pay for our parish priest’s salary and upkeep on our historic buildings, but by and large we lean on the pledges from congregants. For a long time, we’ve been able to tap into money left by past members, people who willed money to the church. Long ago, Trinity was a church of wealthy business owners in Aurora. If you look around the neighborhood that Trinity shares, there are lots of beautiful Victorian mansions, the huge stone Masonic Lodge that can be seen from miles away across the west side of town, and it’s only two blocks from what was once a bustling river community of shipping, manufacturing and trade. but now, many of the buildings are chopped up into lower-rent apartments, the Lodge has been under renovation for so long that it almost looks condemned, and the businesses are struggling to survive with many storefronts left vacant or under constant change of ownership. The stained glass windows in Trinity were donated by the same families who built their large homes here and did business in the two-story brick buildings lining Broadway. But many of those families are gone, and their legacy donations have been spent and are dwindling.

I haven’t been able to give as much as I would like to my church, and it needs money for the work it does. We offer a lunch to the homeless and low income people of Aurora every Thursday with the help of other churches in our area. While the food is donated and the people who run the soup kitchen are volunteers, Trinity has to pay the electric and gas bills to cook the food and keep the lights on. We also stock the bathroom for our guests, and have to insure the building and parking lot for all those who visit. We also offer immigration help with the volunteered hours of Linda Barber, our parish administrator. But her computer, copier, paper and other office supplies have to be purchased. Our greatest asset, and our greatest expense, is our priest. Maybe we could get along without him, but would we want to?

I was asked by our finance committee to speak at church last week about giving. I felt bad accepting, knowing I don’t tithe and give as much as some of our other members. But I give what I can after the mortgage, student loans, our utilities, food, cars, and list goes on. I encourage everyone to pray about giving to church, and if you don’t go to church, helping to support God’s work in the world, like helping the homeless and hungry whether in your community or elsewhere. Give regularly, and you will receive untold benefits. You’ll feel good about it, for one. You’ll be helping out people who don’t have as much, even if you never see them. And there will continue to be places that serve as oasises for those who need God’s love and peace and healing presence. And really, doesn’t everyone need more of that?