During Bible Study on Friday morning, Pastor Tuhina Rasche challenged, “‘Who do you say that I am?’ May that question trouble us, inspire us, and lead us to be curious about where the Spirit is leading us in our time together.” Later in the day, Pastor Mike Ward encouraged us to respond, “I am a generous steward of all that God has first provided.”

Pastor Mike along with Pastor Danielle DeNise led us in a time of reflection on the NC Synod’s core value of Generosity and how Mission Support is transforming lives through generosity and a spirit of abundance, as well as the current trends that are affecting generosity in the church.

Pastor Mike noted four trends that he sees when working with congregations:

• People who are still with us in our congregations on this side of the pandemic are generous and want us to thrive. They are willing to be more generous when they know the stories of God’s transformative work and our vision for the future.
• Planned giving is a tremendous opportunity right now and can provide financial stability for the future.
• People will volunteer, be engaged, and join us when they are invited into abundance and transformation rather than scarcity and busy-ness.
• Generous donors die and may move away, so we need to mentor, nurture, and inspire the next generation of generous stewards.

Pastor Danielle shared with the assembly, “Our core values, especially generosity, are important in times of contentment and in crisis, not just when they are convenient.” Whether the synod staff was distributing $762,000 from the COVID-19 Relief Fund and feeling like Oprah giving away her favorite things or Living Waters, Cherokee, was using the $46,394.97 in their budget to provide five million dollars worth of food to the four counties they serve, there is an abundant story to tell! The NC Synod is transforming lives through generosity.

Your generosity enables the NC Synod to provide $3500 sabbatical grants for rostered ministers to transform lives. One rostered minister shared about her sabbatical, “the break was good for everyone: me, my family, and the congregation…” The synod council is able to distribute $700,000 from Peeler/Casey Funds, planned gifts made in the past, that enable congregations to transform others through their own ministries and programs. Abundant generosity is changing lives across the synod; we truly have an abundant story to share!