The Widow's Might

Dear Patient Pledgers:

In the next week or so, members and friends of FPCLG will receive their pledge cards for 2021. Like everything else in the days of the pandemic, traditional rhythms of stewardship and pledging seem weird. Why give to an institution that primarily underwrites the expenses of a facility we cannot currently use to its fullest and a staff hemmed into phone calls, emails and virtual screen-boxes with mediocre audio? 

It reminds me again of how financial stewardship (a euphemism for giving to the church) is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, the pastor and those working with the stewardship campaign are seeking to separate you from your hard-earned cash in order to support the great work of the church; on the other hand, those who administer these generously contributed gifts must also demonstrate their best stewardship of how those funds are used. I use the sword analogy because in both cases the operative question is, “What should we cut?” Add to this the swirling external realities of political and financial uncertainty, and thoughts of planning for anything in 2021 seem naively quaint. What have we learned from 2020? We have been schooled in the fragility of expectation. 

In the past I have mused about the origins of pledging. It became common at the beginning of the last century to prevent impulsive generosity inspired by manipulative emotional appeals. Pledging was meant to assist donors in giving all they could realistically afford, thoughtfully budgeting in the context of their personal and household need. No gift to ministry should leave the giver perilously impoverished. The story of the widow quietly contributing all that she had to the temple treasury (Mark 12.41-44 and Luke 21.1-4) while the gifts of the wealthy were lauded was not just a story about her mighty faith; it was also an indictment of the institution that honored quantity over quality. I believe the presumption of our FPCLG institutional stewards should be that each and every gift reflects the best hope and faith of the giver.

And so, I suggest the following rubric as you consider your 2021 pledge: prayerfully discern the amount you know you will not regret, a level of regular giving that will neither overtax your daily needs nor under support the congregation you love. If your capacities change during the coming year, then modify your offerings as necessary. But more than that, consider pledging something more valuable than money: your time and your attention. Commit yourself to reaching out to others in the congregation and community; pledge your prayer, your encouragement and your patience to those who need it most. These are gifts we can budget without anxiety, promises we can keep regardless of what financial uncertainties may be ahead. These gifts will allow us to be the church, with or without financial abundance. 

Pledging our leadership will work out the details in the days ahead, I remain,

With Love,
Jonathan Krogh
Your Pastor

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A Recipe for Reconciliation Has a Starting Point
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Dear Non-Conference Non-Attendees:

As you may know, a great deal of effort was put into planning and promoting a post-COVID conference scheduled for the second Saturday in March. Pre-registrations were underwhelming, so the week before the event I decided to cancel it. It’s bad form to have more breakout groups than attendees. I’m grateful for the presenters and preparers who were unable to showcase their no-doubt brilliant work; but discussing the impact of the pandemic four years out was clearly uninteresting to a wider public.

Upon reflection, I realize I shouldn’t be surprised. I conceived of an event designed to address the unprocessed grief we carry regarding what was lost during those dark months of soaring death rates and social isolation. I recognize now that a conference organized to address denial is doomed by its own irony.

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Dear Deep Intercessors:

As I’ve mentioned before, when confronted with pain, struggle, deprivation, weakness, etc., we’re not comfortable regulating our helplessness. “Thoughts and prayers” have become a trivializing phrase, hiding passivity in the face of tragedy. But there are times when that’s all we’ve got. Unfortunately, “I’ll pray for you” feels like a last resort when we’ve exhausted all the options of practical assistance. It feels like surrender. ‘I wanted to do something useful, but all the wonderful things I could do have been declined, so I guess I’m stuck with praying instead.’

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Dear Taxing Filers:

April 15th, Tax Day! Hopefully you’re not scrambling to finish the filing task on this beautiful Monday; I usually am. Not because I procrastinate, which I do, but because ministers are paid like independent contractors, so the 15.3% self-employment tax on salary and housing allowance usually leaves a little extra needed to top off my quarterly payments from the previous year. Like many, I’m in no rush to hand off that cash. I am grateful for the continued income tax exemption provided to clergy for housing allowance, but am not confident that exemption will last. Implemented to compensate pastors who own their homes rather than live in a church manse, local municipalities like the allowance because it keeps clergy houses on the property tax rolls. Churches do not pay tax for their property, including church-owned pastors' housing. (Strangely enough, continuation of the housing allowance exemption finds its greatest protection from the U.S. military.) All this brings me to today’s musing, a brief history of the religious church tax exemption.

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Dear Sunward Gazers,

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Dear Sitters:

In 2001, Norwegian composer Rolf Løvland wrote a short instrumental piece with a contemplative melody and haunting harmonies titled “Silent Story”. A few years later, Løvland approached novelist and songwriter Brendan Graham to write lyrics for the piece. It was first performed at the funeral of Løvland’s mother by vocalist Johnny Logan, who later recorded a demo of the piece with full orchestra. The song was picked up by various artists, but these recordings languished without much fanfare; that was until 2003, when producer David Foster selected the song for up-and-coming star Josh Groban. “You Raise Me Up” became one of Groban’s megahits.

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Dear Pledging Patriots:

At the close of the 1800s, the United States was swamped with immigrants. Nearly 15% of the nation was foreign born, with a majority coming from northern and western European countries. It was noted that in 1890, one in six Chicago residents had been born in Germany. There were also a substantial number of new American residents from Ireland and eastern Europe. They were largely poor and alarmingly Catholic. Most, regardless of their country of origin, were arriving on American shores having formerly been pledged to kings and other associated royal potentates. Coming to America required not only the acquisition of a new language, but also a changed understanding of citizenship. Republics are very different from monarchies.

Concern over the new arrivals’ ability to assimilate and a fear that they lacked understanding

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Dear Ones:

As you may imagine, today’s Musing doesn’t wander far from Dani’s brain surgery today. Some things overwhelm all other threads of concentration. Counting out Aggi’s (our dog) pills this morning and smooshing them into her favorite gummy candy, I was taken aback, because next to the newly filled pill cup was another pill cup containing the pills, each stuffed into a gummy. Clearly, I had done that task earlier in the morning and had no actual memory of having performed that part of my morning routine. I’m finding myself making sure the keys are in my pocket several times each time I get out of the car. Deep thought clearly takes up a lot of space, crowding out the mundane mental wanderings of an average day…

March 9, 2024. Dropping the Mask: A COVID Remembrance - what we lost, what we learned
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Dear Past Pandemic Prospectors,

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Dear God Lovers:

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Dear Members and Friends:

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Dear Shivering Saints:

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Dear Morning Makers:

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Dear Christmas Time Crunchers:

In a recent article published by the American Psychological Association, researchers Julian Givi and Colleen P. Kirk presented their findings regarding the emotional weight associated with declining an invitation (a PDF of the article may be found here). Briefly stated, their study found that those who decline invitations predict far more negative ramifications from the inviter than are justified. For example, if someone invites you to lunch and you decline, they tend to be far less disappointed than you think they are. The implication of the findings suggests that we respond positively to invitations more often than we honestly desire, and when we decline invitations, we are disposed to exaggerate the weight of our excuse. While my own research on this topic is far less scientific, I’m inclined to agree. Which brings me to my

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Dear Advent Star Gazers:

There are many accounts of the Cuban Missile Crisis which I will not recount for you here today, but as this time of year we muse together about Christmas music, some of you may not know how these two topics overlap.

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Dear Keepers of the Faith:

Where there is anxiety innovation reeks of invasion and tradition smells like home.

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Dear Fellow Wealth Worriers:

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