Five Years? Time to Celebrate!

Five Years? Time to Celebrate!
 

Cheers! Clinky, clinky! Woohoo! The end of this month marks five – yes count ‘em five – years that I have been having too much fun than anyone deserves by writing this blog. The years have indeed flown by. Just like I have often suggested, one should take every opportunity to celebrate milestones and accomplishments. At a time when the world is so divisive, a good party can bring everyone together.   So, to do just that, I am throwing a little “Happy Anniversary” party for “Inspiring Generosity”…in my head. And it’s a heck of a party, let me tell you. We are having all the best ice cream, gelato, and soft-serve frozen yogurt that’s available (the finest that’s on sale, that is). This is an impressive party.   Somewhere around the one-hour mark, I’ll step up and thank a few people – most notably Linda Grund-Clampit, office mate and editor extraordinaire.

Then I’ll highlight my favorite five (plus one) blog posts from the past five years:
 
6. Giving Out of Obligation (5/1/13) After this post I received a number of emails from people who disagreed with me. It must have struck a chord. I’ll stick with gratitude.
 
5. Reclaiming the Testimony (10/17/12) This post is about the importance of telling stories of impact in worship…backed up by science.
 
4. What the Church Can Learn about Storytelling from the Boss (11/28/12) Another early post just before I went to see Bruce Springsteen rock my world. Seeing him in concert should be on your bucket list. Oh, and listen to his stories too.
 
3. Please, No More Faith Budgets (10/28/15) Using my church as an example, this one seemed to resonate with a lot of you.
 
2. You are NOT a Cry Baby: The Power of Emotion (2/10/16)  This advocates for – at least once  in a while – letting emotion be a part of church. It’s kind of odd that you have to advocate for emotion in church, of all places.
 
1. “God is the Owner, I am the Ower” (4/3/13) This is my way of honoring the life of Gordon Cosby who headed Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC. It was because of his leadership that I had my “aha” moment about generosity after repeating this liturgical line week after week while I worshipped there.
 
And then – just before we get back to eating ice cream - I’ll finish up the anniversary party with one more thank you to you, dear readers. Thank you for inspiring me with your comments, input, and fabulous examples of ways that you are helping others in your congregations and organizations to be generous people. In doing so, you are helping this world be a better one. What a gift. Here’s to the next five years!

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Cesie Delve Scheuermann (pronounced “CC Delv Sherman,” yes, really) is a consultant in stewardship, development, and grant writing. Over the past fifteen years, while working as a volunteer and part-time consultant, she helped raise over three million dollars for numerous non-profit organizations. She thinks there ought to be far more ice cream parties because, you can never have too many. She was the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference Lay Leader from 2008-2012. Her position with the Conference is funded through a generous grant from the Collins Foundation. She is available to consult with churches. You can reach her at inspiringgenerosity@gmail.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/inspiringgenerosity.
 
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