Sample Letter

Dear members,

As we look at the state the world faced 60 years ago, the state that first called our churches to join together in One Great Hour of Sharing, and at what we face today as we approach this offering's 60th anniversary, we see many troubling parallels. Now as then, far too many of our brothers and sisters are trying to recover from the devastation of war, a devastation multiplied many times beyond what some of our own families have suffered. This year as then, many economies are shattered, bringing those in poverty and hunger to the point where their very survival is at stake. Unlike 60 years ago, these needs reach deeply into our own towns and cities. We can no longer stand above the pain of the world, imagining that those stuck in the suffering below are somehow different from us. We know all too well that in a smaller and smaller world, the suffering of one family quickly spreads to all.

Yet this year's offering theme — Where is your treasure? — points to the eternal saving truth that enabled us to respond with amazing generosity then, and which still holds firm today: it is not by relying on human structures that we can find life's deepest treasure, but by opening ourselves to the abundance of God's love, flowing through us and overflowing beyond us.

This year, recognizing that the pain we experience from the global economic crisis will be magnified beyond our imagining for many of the world's poorest people, the General Assembly’s moderator, the Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow, has asked us to consider doubling last year's giving. After serious consideration, our session has agreed to invite us to this significant increase in our commitment to One Great Hour of Sharing. Please take time over the next weeks to reflect prayerfully whether you can double the amount you gave last year, and on the difference between the impact that increasing your gift will have on your own lives and the impact it will have on the lives of our brothers and sisters around the world.

As a part of this period of congregational discernment, I want to extend two invitations to you. First, I hope you will pick up one of the Lenten devotions in the narthex and will use it to help focus your spiritual journey this Lent. Second, we will be having a potluck on Sunday, _________. The children will read a story about Gracie the fish, and then ________will lead a discussion of how small changes in our lifestyle can enable us to double our gifts, which will make huge differences in the lives of our sisters and brothers. We will be seeing a very brief video reminding us what our gifts mean to others throughout the world — as well as what the sacred act of giving can mean to us. I hope you will join us on that day, and I hope you will join Christians all across the country in opening their hearts to witness tangibly to the abundant love of God through One Great Hour of Sharing.

Yours in the love and grace of Jesus Christ,

Rev. _________________