February 2007

With great gifts comes great responsibility

A familiar text from Luke’s gospel — “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.” — has evolved into the watchword of the First Presbyterian Church of East Brady, Pa.

The 102-member congregation, which has been the recipient of several significant bequests in its 132-year history, understands well that with great gifts comes great responsibility.

“We exist to share the love of Jesus Christ,” said Elder Debbie McCanna, First Presbyterian Church’s clerk of session since 1993.  “Being of service to those who serve through our gifts of time, talent and treasure is how we put that faith statement into practice.” 

First Presbyterian Church of East Brady, Pa. Photo by Debbie McCanna.

Housed in an historic, Georgian-style mansion on the banks of the Allegheny River, the church’s unique building was itself a gift to the congregation by Mr. and Mrs. Newton Graham.  Graham, a Pennsylvania Presbyterian who earned his fortune in lumber and oil prior to relocating to Detroit to break into the auto industry, donated his own palatial home for use by the church in 1926 after its original building was damaged by a windstorm.  In addition to providing for the mansion’s extensive renovations and permanent upkeep, Graham also converted his personal library into a lending library for the community.

Just recently, the congregation has again benefited from the Grahams’ legacy as the recipient of a new trust from Graham’s second wife.  The second Mrs. Graham, who had never lived in East Brady, often visited the community and remained in touch even after her husband’s death.  “Mrs. Graham felt very strongly,” McCanna explained, “that the money that Mr. Graham had made in East Brady return there.”

Because of the church’s strong missional identity, McCanna knew that a portion of the income from this newest endowment would be earmarked for mission.  “For the size of the congregation, they’re one of the leading churches in the presbytery in terms of mission giving,” said the Rev. Robert I. Moore, the church’s interim pastor.  According to McCanna, the difficult decision for the church to make about the money would not be whether to give to mission, but what percentage to give. 

The session ultimately decided to tithe the income from the Graham bequest to mission, with the understanding that the goal was to spend the money in the same year as it is received. 

“With a gift like this comes great responsibility,” McCanna said.

Because she also serves as chair of the church’s mission committee, McCanna and her fellow members immediately began to research potential new mission causes, among them the Mission Initiative: Joining Hearts & Hands.  The committee was favorably impressed with the goals of the campaign, which would also allow the church to increase its participation in international mission.

“Will Browne was our pastor here from 1975 to 1982,” McCanna said, speaking of the current acting co-director of World Mission for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).  “He was the one who kick-started us in mission.  We didn’t know any missionaries until we met the Browne family.”

Upon hearing of the congregation’s intention to make an undesignated gift of $10,000 to Joining Hearts & Hands, Browne was profoundly moved.  “It was a real joy to hear the news that the first congregation I served has made such a gift to Joining Hearts & Hands,” Browne said.  “For a missionary child who had grown up in India, becoming their pastor meant not only a professional formation but a cultural formation as well.  What they taught me was that the church of Jesus Christ in any place is God's gathered people.  And I learned that God gave those people an abundance of talents and wisdom and faithfulness and love.”

McCanna emphasized the unrestricted nature of the church’s gift to Joining Hearts & Hands.  “We have a history of not designating,” she said, “because we always feel that there’s some track of mission that otherwise wouldn’t get the funding.  We trust that God will guide the decision about how to allocate the funds.”

The Rev. Erin S. Cox-Holmes, associate general presbyter of Kiskiminetas, of which the church is a member, expressed great joy in the church’s recent action.  “The East Brady Church is a congregation which is passionate in support of mission, especially the mission causes of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.),” she said.  “As a member of the national steering committee of Joining Hearts & Hands, I am delighted to see them participating in this denominational effort to renew the church for mission.”