It's about TIME

Actually, it’s all about time. We all have only so much of it. The decisions we make about how we use it, what we do with it, to whom we give it. We can waste it, we can kill it, or we can make the most of it.

A friend reminded me of a line from the movie Steel Magnolias, “I’d rather have thirty minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special.” Time can be that precious, or it can be something that can’t slip away from us fast enough.

So what does this have to do with Connectional Giving? Well, it is our time we give to the church that makes a difference. How many United Methodists will spend vacation days this summer taking part in mission trips, VIM Work Teams, Volunteering a vacation Bible School? Connectional Giving is not just about the dollars we put in the plate, but the time we put in to make our church – individually and collectively – effective in its ministry.

In fact, those monetary gifts we put in the plate reflect our time as well. The hours we’ve put in at work this week. The years we’ve worked in the past to secure an income in our retired years, and the ability to continue to support the work of the church.

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, is quoted as saying “Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.” It is not a call for us to build big portfolios and stockpile money to buy our security. It is a call to first be a good steward of our time, to make the best use of each minute.

All of us will trade our time, our hours and minutes and seconds for the things that matter to us. For the time you have given to empower both the local and the global ministry of The United Methodist Church, I say a heartfelt “thank you!”


--Rev. Dr. Ken Sloane, Director of Communications Ministry, United Methodist Communications