Stewardship 2014—“Be Not Afraid” • Commitment Letter

Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you-you of little faith! And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Luke 12:27-32 NRSV

Dear Friends in Christ,

As we look at the world around us, we see people living in fear-fear for their jobs and families, fear for their health or even their lives, fear for the future of the political world or the environment that sustains us. But as we learn from Luke, God’s pleasure is to give us the kingdom, and we have no reason to be afraid.

Earlier, the four of us wrote about the many accomplishments of our congregation over the last year in feeding the hungry, making music, worshipping together, nurturing our children and youth, and helping to bring about healing and justice. We also encouraged all of us as a congregation not to be afraid to share, to save, or to spend.

At our October 13 congregational meeting, we took a big step forward not in fear but in the confidence that God is with us and is calling us to mission—to God’s work. An overwhelming majority of our members voted to extend a call to Pastor Angela Freeman as our co-pastor, without any term limit.

Now we are called to bring individual hands to God’s work at LCH. Each of us as individuals has the opportunity to commit our time, talents, and treasure to this work. Most importantly we make these commitments in our hearts, but we also make them through the enclosed commitment cards.

We ask that you determine the financial commitment you will make to God’s work at LCH. At the congregational meeting, we learned that calling a second pastor will increase our yearly budget by 10–12%, and we voted to do so. Now we are called to “be not afraid” and determine how each of us as an individual or family can support that increase.

Along with this letter you will find your commitment card for 2014 (PDF). For your convenience, we have also included an authorization form (PDF) if you would like to begin using electronic funds transfer or modify your current EFT. Stewardship calculators are available on the church website at <www.lchwelcome.org/ stewardship>.

Please take some time in the coming days to pray about your own or your family’s commitment to further God’s work through us at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu. Please bring the completed card to church so it can be dedicated during worship services on November 10.

Thank you for your hands as they join with others at LCH and around the world to do God’s work.

Yours in Christ’s service,
Your Stewardship Committee
Pam Buckley, Karen Fay
Bill Potter, April Smith

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