We heard about our generous offering from the opening worship service that amounted to $33,000. Those funds will be split between three different groups that represent international, national and local ministries of the Presbyterian Church. The three areas are: an alliance that deals with international human trafficking; two new ventures of the Office of Collegiate Ministries; and Presbyterian Clearwater Forest camp, an outdoor ministry site of the host presbyteries (The Twin Cities Area, Northern Waters, Minnesota Valleys) along with the Presbytery of Northern Plains adn the Synod of Lakes and Prairies. As we congratulated ourselves for the generous giving, I began to think about how generous we really were. If 6000 Presbyterians gathered for worship, we only gave $5 per Presbyterian gathered there. Surely we could (should) have done better. That always seems to be a challenge – how do we give thanks for giving while still having challenging ourselves to give more. I actually gave approximately $17 to the offering, which made me way above average in my giving. Sounds great, doesn't it? But, when I stop and ask myself how much should I have given in the context of an incredible worship service and for the wonderful purposes for which it will be used, I find myself embarrassed at my lack of generosity.
Peace,
Richard
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