Last Sunday our Sunday school children capped off their four-week hands-on learning experience about Congregational Giving, and what a finale it was!  Since October the children had been busy creating handmade cards and scarves for a special sale on November 12th.  As we spent the weeks creating, we talked about our church and what it costs to support all its programs and ministries (see my previous blog post for the kids’ creative thoughts on that!) and how people decide what and where and how to give.  We agreed that the money from our card and scarf sale would be given right back to the church on November 19th – the day the adults submitted their financial pledges for our 2018 budget year.  Our November 12th sale was a wonderful success (thank you to all who supported it!), and this past Sunday the children eagerly counted out the money that we made – the total was $294.20!  The kids were amazed!  We wondered what the church might be able to do with $294.20.  With a $400,000+ budget, would $294.20 even help?  Here are their thoughts:

“That could buy a lot of toilet paper.”

“Maybe buy some food?”

“Give it to the poor!”

“We can get more supplies for Sunday school.”

“Help with the renovation.”

“Buy candles for the Advent Spiral.”

We spent the remainder of class decorating wooden pledge tokens that we then brought upstairs as we rejoined worship.  The children offered their tokens, as well as our $294.20 gift to the church.  It was a proud and joyous and empowering moment for all of us – truly lifting our sweet, sweet spirits together as one.  Thank you to all who supported our learning journey in giving.  It is certainly a life-long lesson, and one the children have easily embraced!