By Laurel Johnston

My friend Tom Gossen, the Executive Director of TENS, is fond of saying, “an attitude of gratitude, will get you altitude.” Many folks in the twelve step communities talk about practicing an “attitude of gratitude,” as a way to break free of resentments and embrace the gift of life, one day at a time.  In worshipping communities, we celebrate Holy Communion, a feast of gratitude, for all that has been given and for the blessings we receive in God’s abiding presence with us.  As Eucharistic people, our call is to simply respond with praise and thanksgiving.

How do our faith communities support one another in embracing practices of gratitude?   How is the annual giving campaign, a time that is traditionally devoted to raising support for the life-giving ministries of a congregation, also become a time to embrace proportional giving as an intentional practice of gratitude and to recognize our giving practice as worship—a concrete way that we offer praise and thanksgiving?

Feasting on Gratitude is a six-week stewardship reflection series designed to compliment and support a congregation’s annual giving campaign. Each of the six contributing writers explores stewardship, giving, gratitude, and generosity in connection with the lectionary reading from the Gospel of Mathew each Sunday beginning October 2 through November 6th, All Saints Sunday.

The six weekly reflections undergird the truth that we are called to be a Eucharistic people.  We are called to offer praise and thanksgiving with the entirety of our lives.  One of the most concrete ways that we offer praise and thanksgiving is through our pledge commitment.  Money represents the labor and substance of our lives.  When we make a pledge commitment in a very real way we are offering ourselves, souls and bodies back to God to be blessed for the building up of God’s kingdom. Giving is worship.  Giving is a powerful act of gratitude for all that has been given.

We know it is not always easy to be grateful.  Work and life pressures abound.  We face loss and disappointments.  The cries of scarcity of the culture grow louder.  Anxious worry, especially about money, often wins over trustful surrender.  Gratitude is not always the obvious choice, it needs to be cultivated, nurtured, and tended to with inner attentiveness.  Gratitude is the fruit of life abundant.  Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life, turning what we have into enough and more.  It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into home, a stranger into a friend.

The weekly reflection questions include discussion questions and can be downloaded to include in worship bulletins or to use as part of an adult formation series. Available in English and Spanish, the series also includes a pledge card and proportional giving chart.

TENS has developed supplemental annual giving materials to support a congregation’s desire to embark on a Feasting on Gratitude Annual Giving Campaign.  Materials available to TENS members include:

+ Introductory Letter from the Rector/Vicar

+ Introductory Letter from the Senior Warden

+ Annual Giving Thank you Letter

+Scripture Study Reflection Questions on Gratitude

+Video Interview of The Rt. Rev. Greg Rickel, Bishop, Diocese of Olympia and member of TENS Board of Directors discussing Gratitude.

To access these members only materials visit: Member Resources. After logging in, click on Annual Resources to access these materials.

Feasting on Gratitude invites us to reflect on our relationship with the money and how the spirit of gratitude is thriving in us; encouraging us to recognize, as William Stringfellow writes, that all life, including money is a gift.  Saints are simply those who recognize that the only way to honor such a gift is to give it away. As we embark on our annual giving campaigns, how can our pledge commitment reflect our attitude of gratitude?

The Rev. Laurel Johnston is Program Officer for Stewardship, The Episcopal Church and a board member for The Episcopal Network for Stewardship. You can reach Laurel at ljohnston@episcopalchurch.org.

Time Magazine reported last week in a special “money edition” that an income of $75,000 is optimal for the pursuit of happiness. Citing a Princeton University study, researchers found that as people earn more money their day-to-day happiness rises until they reach a certain income level. An income of $75,000 is the figure at which happiness peaks. Earning more than this has no measurable effect on day-to day contentment. (The median household income in 2009 was $50,221).

We know there are many ways to define happiness. (Remember the song “Happiness Is” from You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown)? The study from Princeton distinguishes between two forms of happiness. The first is the day-to-day contentment (emotional well-being) and the second is overall life assessment meaning broader satisfaction with one’s place in the world. While higher income didn’t have much of an impact on day-to-day contentment, it did boost people’s life assessment

Harvard Business School Professor Michael Norton, who researches the psychology of happiness, warns that many Americans are buying the wrong brand of happiness. He says that buying a flat screen TV — like eating French fries — can satisfy a craving, making us happy in the moment, but it is not the best strategy for long-term well being. Spending money on friends and loved ones, donating to charities, spending money on experiences that enhance the feelings of meaning and social connection – these are the types of expenditures that provide the best long terms strategies for happiness.

While our cultural DNA may lead us to pursue shallow or fleeting happiness, how does claiming our spiritual DNA help us to find lasting happiness?

Our Founding Fathers affirmed, we are “endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights,” meaning that we are bound in relationship to our Creator and that our deepest meaning comes from living into the image and likeness of God. This is not a scientific statement, this is a faith statement.

To live into God’s image means we love as God loves, we rule as God rules, and we give as God gives. Inherent to our happiness are giving and sharing. Inherent to our happiness is being in relationship with God and with one another. It is easy forget this. We need companions on the way to remind us that life abundant is found in communities of faith striving to follow Jesus.

This is the time of year that many congregations are immersed in the annual giving campaign. This is an important time in the life of the congregation—not only to raise money for the life-giving ministries of the congregation, but to explore important questions: What brings happiness? How does your faith community help you build lasting happiness? How does the opportunity to give strengthen the bonds of connection you experience in your community?

Shared meals and shared life with family, friends, and those in need – this is the essence of abundant life that Jesus came to give. Each time we gather at the Lord’s table we are invited into lasting happiness, lasting gratitude for the abiding presence of God-for-us, God-with-us, and God-in-us. In worship, we celebrate a meal of gratitude for a life of gratitude for the One who from the beginning of time has desired to be in communion with us.

Each and every generation must discover that giving of self is a path to happiness and that God is indeed bound to our happiness.
The Rev. Laurel Johnston is the Program Officer for Stewardship for the Episcopal Church. To view Feasting on Gratitude, a six-week stewardship reflection series visit: www.thestewardswell.org