GIVING 2021
SMALL THINGS BIG DIFFERENCE
Dear Friends,

Usually, in the fall, your church staff sends out commitment cards. You estimate how much you will give to the church over the next year, fill out your card, and we use those pledges to plan the next year’s budget. To be honest, I struggled with this in 2020. How can we ask for a pledge commitment in such uncertain times? After many discussions, we decided to hold off on sending out the cards for a bit, until we came to some clarity.  

You have amazed me with your faithfulness and generosity in 2020. In a year full of need and suffering, First United Methodist Church McKinney was able to provide relief in our community and around the world, from handing out food and diapers here in downtown to providing training and equipment to our partners at Grace Children’s Hospital in Haiti. You gave almost 300 children of Caldwell families a happy Christmas through our online angel tree. You started construction on a new building for our Melissa congregation. You reached out to neighbors in small groups, support ministries, and online Sunday School. You have worshiped in new and creative ways - online, outdoors, distanced and masked. You have continued to be the Church, and will continue to be the church whatever this new year brings. Together, we have done many small things that made a big difference in the world.

This month, we will be talking more about small things. If 2020 taught us anything, it is the value of the little stuff: a friendly phone call, a few dollars, a kind word of prayer, a spare roll of toilet paper. Small things can make big differences, and God uses what we can give to create more blessings and abundance than we could imagine.

With this in mind, we are now asking you to fill out a pledge card. You can do it on our website right now, or through the card coming in the mail in the next few days. We know that times are still strange. Many of our financial situations have changed over the past few months, and may change again. I just ask you to do these things:

  1. Commit to supporting the ministry of our church through your prayers and actions. This is a form of giving, and an important one at that.
  2. Decide to give financially to support our church. We are all in different places, but even a small gift can make a difference.
  3. Consider giving regularly as a percentage of your income. The Bible teaches us to give back ten percent of what we earn. What would our church, our city, and our world look like if we all moved toward that model?
  4. Please fill out a pledge card, online or in the mail, by Sunday, January 24.

I am so thankful for you, church family. You are a blessing in my life and in the world. We have made it through a difficult year and met our commitments faithfully. This new year will be better, but it will be full of its own challenges. I know that together, we will take the small steps that God will use to make a big difference in the hearts, minds, and lives of all people.

God bless you, and happy new year.