The Lyric of God's Abundance

I really appreciate hearing from members of our congregation each fall about the ways Plymouth has changed their lives and why they support our congregation. They are poignant, honest, profound, and sometimes even funny. About ten years ago, Bob Sturtevant did a great talk (with apologies to David Letterman) centered around his Top Ten Reasons to Give. Number One was “Because through his son’s teachings, God asked me to.” <Mic Drop>

There are a lot of reasons Jane Anne and I make giving to Plymouth a priority, but for me, giving to the church has been an important part of my spiritual journey. Back when I was in graduate school and we had a newborn, it was hard to pledge, but we managed to give $1,200 a year to First Congregational UCC in Boulder. When we moved to Connecticut, I was the minister responsible for stewardship and mission giving in our conference, and with another young son, we found ways to increase our pledge to First Church in Windsor, UCC. And our move to Fort Collins in 2002 brought new responsibilities and new perspectives. I heard Tom and Paula Dille talk about tithing (that’s 10 percent) their income when they were young adult members of a UCC church in Missouri. I heard Larry McCulloch say that he invested in the church, because it has been the greatest agent of change over centuries. I witnessed Jackie and Kevin Schneider pay their full pledge when the pandemic started to help ensure we didn’t have cashflow problems. I saw one of our members who recently lost a job submit a pledge…that’s an act of deep faith. I have learned so much about God’s abundance from the people who form this congregation. You are an inspiration.

God imbues the universe with “the lyric of abundance,” as Walter Brueggemann puts it. There is enough of everything to go around — that’s God’s intention. The problem lies in distribution. I want to be part of God’s movement, to sing the lyric of abundance not the dirge of scarcity, and I want to do everything I can to support the realm of God. That’s why I support Plymouth financially.

You and I have witnessed incredible injustices in our nation. We are living through a deadly pestilence of biblical proportion. How are we to respond? We can sit back and wring our hands. We can vent on Facebook and feel righteous indignation. But how does that change the world or change lives? Even as I write, our Immigration Ministry Team is using our North Wing to sort donated clothing and supplies for PSD students who arrived in this country not just without documentation, but alone. I want to support that. Carla is developing a lay caregiving program that will have far-reaching impact. I want to support that. When this pandemic is over, we are going to come together to celebrate and sing and offer thanks to God for our deliverance. “O Lord, I want to be in that number,” and I’ll support that!

We have choices about whom we will serve. As for me and my family, we will serve God.

Blessings!

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P.S. You won’t want to miss worship on Sunday…jazz, inspiration, blessing, and celebration! And you can pledge online right now at plymouthucc.org/pledge You don’t have to wait!

Author

The Rev. Hal Chorpenning has been Plymouth's senior minister since 2002. Before that, he was associate conference minister with the Connecticut Conference of the UCC. A grant from the Lilly Endowment enabled him to study Celtic Christianity in the UK and Ireland. Prior to ordained ministry, Hal had a business in corporate communications. Read more about Hal.