Toolbox For Faith

My good friend, Gary LaCroix who is pastor of Christ Lutheran Church in Cape Coral, Florida, was hospitalized on February 27 and underwent major surgery a few days later. Last Sunday was the first time since his hospitalization that Gary was able to preach and lead worship. As he stood to make the announcements but before he could say anything, the congregation stood and applauded. Gary was overwhelmed! The joyous welcome back was a magnificent reinforcement of his ministry.

As Gary described what had happened, I kept thinking that we in the church do not thank people enough. We need to thank them and thank them again both informally and formally.

Informally, we can develop a life style that reflects our thankfulness that comes from God’s grace. I still remember the tears on the face of the head usher as I was leaving the church where he had served in that position for over 30 years. He grabbed my hand, then gave me a big hug and told me, “You were the only person to ever thank me for doing my job. That meant so much to me.”

Formally, we sometimes run into barriers because we do not want to leave anyone out and because we feel we are only doing what we should be doing. Don’t be afraid of leaving someone out so go ahead and list the names of all the people. If you leave someone out, list them next week. Even though we are doing what we feel we are called to do, we can still thank people for their ministry. A great example is the church where Pastor John, the other writer on this blog, thanks people in such a dynamic way by using a thank note with photos enclosed in the annual giving report sent to each person and by writing a thank you on their fund summary information (see his January 18 post for examples).

I love the way that Paul begins several of his epistles by saying, “I give thanks to God for all of you…” Like Paul, we need to thank people again and again. The standing ovation for Gary needs to be repeated in words and actions by all of us every day and by our churches as often as possible.

Every congregation sends out annual giving statements at this time of year. At St. Michael, we put a thank you note in each statement which tries to connect the individual’s gift to the ministry which is taking place. The format of the “Thank You” note always stays the same, but the ministry picture changes. This year we created a half-page thank you note. On one side is a photo collage showing ministry throughout the year, while on the other side is thank you with a description of the 2010 Ministry Funds. I have posted each side of the insert below for you to see.

Thank You Note with Photos - Jan 2010
Thank You with Fund Summary - Jan 2010