Giving

• Pledging
• 2009 Annual Campaign
  
• Make an Online
  Contribution
• Planned Giving
• Benevolence Program
• Gifting Stocks
• Time & Talent Giving
• Sesquicentennial
  Campaign

The Good We Are Called To Do

PDF

Pledging

Plymouth’s 2009 Annual Giving Campaign is called The Good We Are Called To Do, which refers to the inspiring plans we have for the coming year. You can view a pictorial outline of the budget by clicking on "PDF" above.

Our 2009 campaign has two goals: to increase significantly the size of Plymouth’s giving community and to support fully the budget adopted in June. These are challenging goals in challenging times, and we need everyone’s participation. Plymouth members are called “to contribute toward the financial support of the Church in proportion as God has prospered them” (from the Plymouth bylaws).

We invite you to join in the work of Plymouth Church by contributing one percent of your annual income to Plymouth. For example, if your household income is $50,000, we invite you now to pledge $500 or more to our annual fund. Your pledge may be paid in one lump sum, or you may pay in quarterly, monthly or weekly installments. A $500 pledge comes to $125 quarterly, $42 monthly or $10 weekly.

A gift in any amount will be greatly appreciated.

You can pledge online. You'll receive confirmation of your pledge in the mail.

Thank you on behalf of
the Annual Giving Committee

---

Invitations to Give

We, like many of you, are concerned about the current economic environment and particularly the dropping balances in our retirement and savings accounts. We’ve made a decision, however, to increase our pledge to the church this year despite our anxieties, as a part of living our faith and role modeling for our daughter. Here’s why: as non-native Minnesotans, the strong community of Plymouth has supported us, and the members of this church have played a valued role in our lives and our daughter’s. We strive to bring faith from our heads to our hearts and ultimately our actions. Charitable giving has provided some of the greatest challenges in that area. Through the past several years, we’ve taught our daughter, Amanda, about giving and, as you might expect, the process has taught us at least as much as it’s taught her. In addition to the many benefits we’ve received by being an active part of sustaining the work of the church, we’ve marveled at the realization that we’ve never wanted despite the apparent sacrifice of giving. We hope that you’ll join us in pledging generously in support of this wonderful place called Plymouth!
      –Lew & Nicki Zeidner, members since 2005

• • •

By now we’ve all had a chance to look at the inspiring booklet, The Good We are Called To Do, that was sent to our homes by the Annual Giving Committee. In its spare, elegantly restrained 15 pages, we see Plymouth Church today – who we are inside the walls of our beautiful building and what we carry outside into the world. We are all there. Most of us can be found on nearly every page, if not in one of Mark Christman’s lovely photographs, then in the sanctuary every Sunday, and perhaps in a recovery meeting, the Food Shelf, the Drop-In Center or Whittier School during the week. The pages are filled with the varied ways we’re sustained, nurtured and loved in this place and challenged to take its many blessings out into the community.

“The good we are called to do” requires significant financial support, as we know. This year, especially, many of us are anxious about giving, and some of us may feel unable to make any pledge at all. If those of us who can do so will raise our pledges even a little, we’ll be helping to care for one another, just as we’ve always done, through good times and bad, for over 150 years. Please give what you can, push yourselves a bit, if you can, and know that every gift to Plymouth supports a whole host of programs and community initiatives. Our beloved church is making a difference in the world!                  –Phebe Haugen, member since 1960

Invitations to Give

We should bring nothing but our best efforts to Plymouth Church: the words spoken from the pulpit, the music that leads us to the mysteries of faith, the curriculum and pedagogy for our youth, the benevolence giving and work that represents the core of this church’s values and more. Offering our best as we volunteer for one or more of Plymouth’s numerous outreach opportunities, serve the congregation through board membership, stand in front of a classroom on Sunday mornings or make the commitment to lead worship week after week in a choir robe is essential to ensuring the continued vitality of this community.

This is all true, but we’re also a community that appeals to a search for the truth and there’s a common sense conclusion here that our best efforts must be supported with a financial commitment as well. There’s no way around that reality. For that reason, I hope every one of you will join me in participating in the annual giving campaign by making a pledge and voicing your support for all this church endeavors to do.
                     –Dan Dressen, Plymouth member since 1980

• • •

I’ve just finished a three-year term on the Board of Stewards, the unsung group of heroes who provide the bulletins and coffee without which a Sunday morning at Plymouth could scarcely happen. Every week, half or more of the Stewards arrive at church an hour early to do their part in making sure that worship and fellowship take place as planned. They do this not to be thanked (though I’m sure they wouldn’t mind!) but because they find satisfaction in service, in offering their time and effort for the good of the congregation. Many people here at Plymouth find this satisfaction: the church school teachers, the choir and the members of all our boards and committees, to name a few. But all these acts of service come with a literal price: bulletins must be printed, sheet music bought, children’s art supplies purchased. Not all of us have the time, talent or inclination to serve by teaching Sunday school or singing in the choir, but we all benefit from the commitment of those who do, and therefore each of us has a responsibility to make sure that commitment is financially supported. I invite all of you to join me in pledging during the upcoming campaign, to ensure that the good work done by our volunteers can be carried out to the fullest.
                                  – Jessica Allen, member since 2004