I’m Cathy Pressnell, and this is my husband, Claude. We were talking on the way to church this morning about how long we’ve been a part of St. B’s, and we landed on 15 or so years for him, and we’ve been at St. B’s for 8 years together.

When Father Josh approached us about sharing some thoughts today, we both jumped at the chance. St. B’s is a place that is near and dear to our hearts, and we’re honored to share a bit about what this community means to us and how we consider that at a time when we think about stewardship.

I’m an elementary educator in literacy, so I work in stories a lot. When I thought about what we might want to say today, my mind immediately began casting about for a story that illustrates how dear St. B’s is to us, and the first one I landed on comes from our wedding day.

We were married here at St. B’s, and we had a small wedding - or as small as a wedding can be when it’s just family and you have eight children between the two of you. But along with our children and their families, we had some folks from St. B’s who made it extra special. Father Dave and his wife Katrina were there; Father Dave married us. David Madeira provided incredible music. And Thorunn McCoy was here to help make sure logistics ran smoothly.

At the time, my dad was very ill, so my parents weren’t able to be here. When we got to the moment when everyone was seated, and Claude was up front with Father Dave, and the music got ready, Thorunn looked at me and asked, “How are you feeling?” I’m not exactly sure just what I said, but it was something along the lines of, “I’m so nervous! I’m not nervous about marrying Claude or celebrating the day or our life ahead. It’s just that that aisle is REALLY long, and I’m not one who likes people looking at me. If I could just blink my eyes and be down there already … well, that would be perfect.”

Thorunn looked at me and said, “Oh, but think about it this way. They aren’t really here to look at YOU. They’re here to look at love. THAT’s why people go to weddings … to have the opportunity to look at love.”

I can think of no better story to illustrate what St. B’s means to us. This is a place where we get to come to be a part of something bigger than ourselves, where none of us is at the center of why we’re here and what we’re doing. And, this is a place where we get to look at love. We get to look at God’s love, together, to experience it, to hopefully understand it a little bit better, and to practice it here so we get a whole lot better at practicing it out there.

Thank you babe. To Cathy and me, tithing is less a financial transaction than it is an act of worship.  It is practicing the spiritual discipline of generosity.  This can take place in various forms.  Of course, it begins with tithing but can also be experienced in additional offerings of gratitude.  Such as giving a gift to recognize the contributions to St. B’s by Reverend Serena, a gift of joy for paying off a debt, gifts to celebrate the birth of a child or grandchild, or retiring a debt.  

It is the very nature of God to be generous.  Giving provides us the opportunity to participate in the very nature of God.  The more we participate the more like Christ we become.  We invite you to consider this with us in your giving to St. B’s.