A picture of Reverend Christine at the pulpit during her installation ceremony

“Just Click The Damn Button.”

This is the line from last Sunday’s service that people recited back to me over and over. It was about clicking the button on our website to submit your pledge so we will know how to budget for the upcoming fiscal year. I think some people found it funny that I swore during the service. Some people loved the simplicity of it, some people just loved my tone of voice and some people just wanted to click the button so they didn’t have the task hanging over their head.

But there is a whole story of community behind that one line that I ad-libbed. This Stewardship season has been a testament to community members helping each other out in ways that I only dreamed of before I was a minister. In an effort to support the effort of the community, people have stepped up to do what needed to be done. Someone wrote beautiful words without being asked. Someone else made the beautiful buttons on the website, and another stepped up to handle hospitality for an event. Finally, someone else made sure there was sound for the event—something that Benjie normally did.

None of this was done with finger-pointing, questioning who should be doing it, wondering why it wasn’t done or complaining. It was just…done. With love, and selflessness. Secure in the knowledge that each little part contributed to the whole.

There are a lot of reasons I think we should give with gratitude and generosity during this season; the story behind the “damn button” is just one of many.