A church's pastor can have a powerful influence on the congregation and its members. How the pastor positions the purpose behind an annual campaign can move its members to action.
Churches are constantly pursuing their vision and living out their mission statement every single day. A fundraising campaign is simply an extension of that vision and helps make the congregation's dreams a reality.
Here is an excerpt from a letter written by a pastor as his church began an annual stewardship drive called Living the Future.
"I think what grabbed me about this is that we aren't often living the future. We are thinking ABOUT it, but not actually living it. I have these words etched in my brain from long ago, "A boat doesn't sail on yesterday's wind." What we did yesterday is great, and past achievements should be celebrated. But we live in the present, not the past. So when we called our Stewardship Campaign Living the Future, it was a call upon us to actually live our dream.
This church has over the years called upon its members to engage in mission around the corner, and around the world. We want to be a community, a family, a place for people who are cut off and alone, and we want to foster a culture of generosity that lives with abundant care for one another and for God.
This is not something someone else does for us, it is something we do together - each and every one of us. God's Spirit is the wind that propels our mission, but it takes the commitment of all of us to harness that energy and live it daily to make the boat that is First Presbyterian Church sail."
To read the full letter - as well as the second, follow-up letter - please visit the Church Campaign Services blog post, Powerful Letters from a Pastor.
