"There are some things that money can’t buy. For everything else, remember your Pledge Card." You might recognize this little plagiarism of a MasterCard advertisement but there is no getting around it. Today is the day established by the Session Elders as Pledge Dedication Sunday. It is the day we join together as a community, both members and staff and frequent visitors, and promise how we will financially support the work of God through this congregation during the year of 2004. In the late summer, our Finance Commission put out a short questionnaire asking us how much information we needed to help make our own personal pledge decision. The responses indicated that we wanted graphs and charts and details so we got it! Letters with pledge cards and colorful graphics were sent to all member households with copies available for visitors. We all could see in ____(color) that church income comes primarily from household pledges with a small amount from the rent of space to the Strawberry Pre-School and other groups. No money comes from Presbyterian headquarters or from some wealthy regional office somewhere. Whatever happens here at Westminster is really just up to God and us.

That is not a new concept. Most church work has traditionally been dependant on member support but 150 years ago a common way to generate income was not through promises or pledges. Instead, in many congregations people paid for their seats by contributing an annual pew rental fee to cover church expenses and mission giving. The so-called "better" pews toward the front and center of the worship area cost more, while the "free" pews in the far corners were for the poor who couldn’t afford any rental fees at all. Class distinctions were obvious between the "rich man’s aisle" and the "poor man’s corner." These differences were evident every Sunday when people gathered for worship. Did you see the rental fee posted as you chose your seat today? To cover Westminster’s annual budget for 2004, the households in the first pew will pay $15,000 for the year while those in the back will pay $100. Seats in the middle pews rent for about $2,000. Look around you and see what others will be contributing. Do any of you want to change seats? Not only did this process establish a financial pecking order between members but contribution levels were obvious to the clergy which just possibly might have affected the way they prioritized their work within the congregation. It is the last thing Jesus would have approved among his disciples or the congregations that grew from his ministry. This process angered a well-known pastor in Columbus, Ohio near the turn of the century. Washington Gladden, of the First Congregational Church, was a social activist and hymn writer. Though money was a taboo subject then, just as it is now in most churches, he wasn’t afraid to address it from the pulpit. He tried to help his congregation struggle with the consequences of money in their own lives but found himself greatly conflicted about the social ramifications of pew renting as a method of church fundraising. To him it was an appalling custom and, with other reformers, he led the protest against this practice.

We can imagine where the poor widow in our scripture passage might have sat if she worshipped in Columbus, Ohio at that time. She would have been in the very far corner or maybe even out in the narthex or further in the horse stable. However, she lived in the time of the Prophet Elijah who was even more out-spoken than Rev. Gladden. Elijah was a thorn in the side of Israel’s King Ahab who had agreed to a political marriage to the beautiful but wicked Jezebel, daughter of the king of Sidon. To please her, Ahab built alters and temples to her god, Baal. Elijah condemned him and predicted a drought over the region as God’s punishment of Ahab. At God’s suggestion and as the drought took hold, Elijah traveled to the east of the Jordan. He found very little water and only scraps of bread and meat. God then told him to go to Zarephath, There, God promised, a widow would feed Elijah. Imagine the young mother’s surprise when, as she gathered sticks at the gate of the town in the midst of a drought, Elijah appeared saying, "Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink." Where would she find water and what would it mean to her if she were to give him some from the small supply she had for herself and her son? Scripture says that as she was about to bring water to him when he called and asked her for something more. He wanted in addition a bit of bread. In fear she lashed out at him, "As the Lord YOUR God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug." Knowing it was all she had, she told him she was going home to prepare the last supper for herself and her son and then they would die. The woman had lost all hope in life. Why would God direct Elijah to this woman for food when she actually had nothing to give him but only enough for herself and her son for one last meal? Elijah sensed her despair, her resignation to her fate, and said, "Do not be afraid. Go ahead and prepare the meal for yourself and your son but first make a cake and bring it to me for God says there will be plenty of meal and plenty of oil until the rain comes again." So she did it. She made the cake first for him out of the only supplies that she had remaining. She responded to his need with the little that she had and, as he said, there was enough for both Elijah and the woman’s household to eat for many days. He responded to her need by offering her the assurance of God’s care for them. There developed a supportive community between them and that took an even more exciting turn in the next verses – but that story is for another sermon. The importance of this story is that both Elijah and the woman had very little but what they both had was critically important to the survival of the other. Logic of the zero sum would tell us that between them there was not enough for survival but in the process of meeting, of listening and responding to God and to each other, the jar of meal was not emptied and the jug of oil did not fail. God provided for them, not in abundance and in variety but enough to fill their needs until the rains came again.

So, what does that have to do with us today here in Marin? Our church community is larger than three, larger than a widow and her son and an out-spoken prophet. There are about 475 adult members and 250 children and youth. In addition, there are at least another 50-100 people who worship with us regularly. In most of our homes we have more than we need to eat, more than meal and oil and, though we experienced drought several years ago, we now have plenty of water. Yet, there are times when we are spiritually hungry, times when our souls feel dry and thirsty and because of this community there are people who respond to our needs. We can feel God’s presence in the presence of each other. There is a Men’s Group that is committed to meeting every Friday morning at 6:30 just to talk about whatever has come up during the week. When one is in a crisis, in poor health or lost a job or a spouse, there are fifteen brothers to be present – not to solve the problem but merely to be present. There is a Deacons board that coordinates all of us to offer rides to doctor’s appointments or prepare meals following a hospital stay, to visit homebound congregants or just grab a cup of coffee at Starbucks and offer a listening ear. There are at least forty people each year who volunteer their time weekly to love our children, to prepare their church school lessons and listen to their budding faith stories while the rest of us are in worship. One of these classes is for children with special needs. There is a growing youth program with over 50 participants who now know a fun, safe, faith-filled place to be with leadership that cares about them. There are over 100 in this community that prepare meals for people that we don’t even know – homeless people in shelters in Marin and hungry adults and children who live in cars or come by bus for a hot meal in Findlay Hall. There are thirty people who have made a commitment to think of you and pray for you whenever you might need it as members of the Prayer Chain. Then, of course there are many in this room who reach out in other ways from this network of caring to tutor in The Canal or collect medicines for those in need or offer medical care in Guatemala or build houses in Mexico or care for refugees in Fresno or teach children in Afghanistan. You, as a congregation, provide meeting space for five different very large AA groups every week and these meetings are critically important for the participants and for their family members. If you need a cup of meal or a little oil or a cup of cold water or a hand to touch, you can find it here. But, you know, this network of caring can’t run on its own. It needs light bulbs and computer paper, heat and toilet paper, church school curriculum and crayons, candles and pianos, communion cups and coffee cups, roof repairs and plumbing repairs, music leadership, church school leadership, and janitorial and secretarial help.

This is your church community. What are your hopes for the year 2004? Some of the elected leaders have talked about the need for additional space. There is no room to offer an adult class at the 10:00 hour. The library is often too small for a discussion at 11:15. The choir and acolytes need new robes. The Outreach Commission has scheduled an intergenerational mission trip to Fresno with Cambodian refugees. Bethany is planning a new Middle School mission trip next summer. Should we be giving more money away to mission or other important causes? You might have some ideas that the officers need to hear about. I’d bet at least one of you wishes we had pads on the pews.

Speaking of pews, the good news is that to participate at Westminster you won’t be charged by the pew that you choose to sit in. However, this church wouldn’t be here without you – both as participants and as contributors. Each one of us is needed to pledge what we can so that this faith community can continue to demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ to each other and to the larger community and world. I invite you to prayerfully consider what your involvement in this congregation means to you as we dedicate our pledges for 2004 today.