Message from Pastor Stanton for Feb. 2025
There is no end to the possibilities of what we, as a church, could do to participate in the love, mercy and kindness of God. There are hundreds of local institutions, charities and ministries that feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the diseased and support those in real need. There are thousands of such groups statewide, nationally and some that even make it their work to help people across the globe. With so much need and so many deserving groups, many churches can become overwhelmed by their options. Instead of cultivating significant partnerships or offering a meaningful amount of support to any one, churches can aimlessly scatter their concern everywhere, which is only better than thoughtlessly offering their concern nowhere at all—except unto themselves.
Households face the same challenge. Constant phone calls, e-mails, texts, postcards and more ask for our money or time. Watch a football game and you’ll be invited to support the Red Cross’s efforts to help those affected by California wildfires. When I’m trying to pay for my groceries or dog food, a screen pops up to ask me whether I want to contribute to this or that agency who is helping these or those efforts. How can I say no and not feel like a terrible person?
“Telling a story is like reaching into a granary full of wheat and drawing out a handful.
There is always more to tell than can be told.”
I budget.
Every year, my family not only budgets how much we will allow ourselves to spend on vacations, TV subscriptions and everything else. We also budget how much we will give away. 10% of our family’s income is ‘spoken for’ as we give to First Lutheran, Sugar Creek Bible Camp, LuMin and allow $500 or so for the random requests that come from our kids’ schools. My planned “yes” to be generous to institutions I trust that do work I care about allows me to say “no” whenever I want and keep a clear conscience.
First Lutheran has gotten into the habit of doing a similar thing. We’ve always budgeted. But for the past 5 years or so, we have included a ‘challenge’ in our annual budget. We name the amount of money we will need in the next year to meet all the bills to do the important ministries we do. And then we dream, which is what budgeting is for. Our practice is to name three ministries that could benefit from a meaningful “shot in the arm” from us. In the past, $10,000 goals have been made to local organizations as they fight hunger, homelessness, or as they try to keep families together amidst crisis. Some goals seek to start or grow efforts here at First. Our Stewardship Team and Vision & Leadership Team vet each and every recipient so that we can all have confidence in what we’re supporting together.
I love that our church is intentional about how we will be generous each year. We use cottage meetings to hear ideas from our members. Leaders from First sometimes even interview prospective beneficiaries so that we can better understand their needs. As an individual household, it’s work I can’t (or at least don’t) do myself, but I trust that my church has done the work for me. This way my gift to my church was also a gift—in 2024—to Hope Restores, the First Lutheran Foundation and a gift toward a fund that will help people get a ride to worship.
Are these the only three things we could have done? Of course, not. But as the book I’m reading, Jayber Crow, says about ‘stories’, “Telling a story is like reaching into a granary full of wheat and drawing out a handful. There is always more to tell than can be told.” The same is true of our giving. There will always be more to give to than we can give. But that we give anything at all is optional. And yet, we choose the option of thoughtful, budgeted, generosity.
In 2025, we strive to increase our church’s general fund giving so that we may not only give away 11.5%—as we always do—to four or five institutions that do ministry in our name we can’t do on our own (La Crosse Area Synod, Sugar Creek, Campus Ministry, Lutheran Social Services). With a
$30,000 increase in giving we’ll support the Care for Creation Team here at First that is launching their first effort: solar panels. We will add to the Youth & Family fund within our Foundation which seeks to support ministry with our kids in perpetuity. And we will partner with Pathways Home in an effort to build systems and relationships that address chronic homelessness in our county.
Thank you to all who brainstorm ideas for where our focus should land. Thank you to all who vet the institutions and who tell their stories throughout the January stewardship campaign so that the rest of us can see the vision. And thank you to all who trust this process enough to not only give what you’ve given before to First Lutheran’s general fund, but who increase their giving. Together, our focus, discipline and generosity really does change lives.