A few weeks ago, while walking my dog in our summer community of Cotuit, I passed by the local federated church and noticed that the service started at 10:00. I’ve passed this church many times during our tenure in Cotuit but had never attended the services. I made a spontaneous decision to secure my dog at home and came back to attend the service…a tad late but that’s nothing new for me.
My experience was as follows: I entered a service that was being held in their fellowship hall.
I was welcomed quietly but warmly.
I participated in communion.
I participated in a celebration of their new sanctuary.
At the end of the service, I was able to connect with a friend who was also a deacon for this small congregation. As we chatted, he shared that they had completed the expansion and renovation of the entire church structure over the span of the past 3 years and had been able to fund 95% of that cost through donations from both the church members and the community connections they had made through the years. Quite the feat! Especially since we are talking about Cotuit, MA which has a year round population of about 2500 people and a seasonal population of 3600-4000.
Not all of these contributions to The Federated Church of Cotuit were enormous 5 digit checks but they absolutely were a statement of commitment and stewardship in the form of caretakers of the church. There was a long range vision of what the church would need as well as what the community would need from the church.
My take on this is that, not only is size and demographic not a definitive marker of what can be achieved, but that sincere commitment and steady, positive leadership can produce incredible results.
As we move into our second week of the fall pledge season, please consider what you can contribute to Pilgrim Church’s focus on the future.
Your Stewardship Committee
Michele Landes
Rik Rowe
Sue Baust
Heather McLeod
Spencer McLeod
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