Dove Club

Here at Abiding Presence, we take Jesus’ command to “go make disciples” seriously. Disciples aren’t made by accident. Following Jesus doesn’t come naturally. It is something that is taught and caught by living together in the community that is the church, the body of Christ for the sake of the world.

One aspect of discipleship is stewardship. Following Jesus looks like faithfully stewarding the resources entrusted to us by God and living generosity. Jesus talks a lot about money in the gospels. Why? Because he knows it is a huge stumbling block that gets in the way of our relationship with God and one another. It is too easy to love and place our trust in our money instead of God.

Last Sunday, Pastor Kelsey introduced to our Abiding Fellows the idea of a generosity journey, which is the journey of being a good steward, making a financial commitment to the church and joyfully giving. She created the “Dove Club” as a way to teach, inspire and launch our Abiding Fellows onto their generosity journey as they continue to be disciples of Jesus.

Twenty out of 26 Abiding Fellows chose to join the Dove Club by making a financial commitment to the church through a payroll deduction. All together, they have committed $211/month in offering. The average donation is $10.55/month, which is 8.5% of their monthly pre-tax income. That’s significant! These young people are off and running on their generosity journey. Pastor Kelsey and I are inspired by them. We hope you are, too!

Beginning their generosity journey now, these young people are Abiding Together to be the church. The church is invested in these young people through our Abiding Fellows ministry. Abiding Fellows are part of a stipend faith formation, leadership development and vocational discernment ministry in which we as a church pour into them. At the same time, they are given the chance to be investing in the church as Sunday School workshop leaders who mentor, teach and inspire the children of the church. Our church kids look up to the Abiding Fellows in big ways. They make following Jesus and being part of the church cool, relatable and the thing to do. Through the Dove Club, our Abiding Fellows get to be investing in the church in a new way, too, by giving offering. They are choosing to live as followers of Jesus.

What we do here at Abiding Presence matters. We are changing lives. Watching our Abiding Fellows grow in their discipleship is simply amazing. The faith that is nurtured, the skills that are learned and the relationships that are formed here don’t just make a difference to our young people who are Abiding Fellows. These Abiding Fellows then go out into the world to put their faith, skill and relationships to work. They are making a difference and reshaping the world.

May the generosity journey of our Abiding Fellows inspire you in your own journey. It’s never too late to take the next step - or to start - your generosity journey, too.