Blog

01 Apr

To be filled with peace

In

By Becky De Oliveira

A young woman in her 20s—a friend of the family—sent me a text message last week, asking what my “secret” is. “You’re the most peace-filled person I know,” she wrote. This made me smile—a quiet, enigmatic smile because that is the kind of person I am. I exude calm. People confuse this with peace. I’m reminded again of how prone human beings are to mistake affect for substance.

Because I’m not particularly calm, let alone peaceful, I don’t know what my secret is. If what people want to know is how to seem calm, like I do, my best advice would be to follow these rules: 1) Always be a little tired, 2) Be middle-aged, 3) Constantly be preoccupied, thinking about, if possible, something complicated that you read earlier or one of the many unsolvable problems you face.

As for achieving an actual state of peace, I’m not sure. Mine come and go. My default state is one of a mild panic over all the things that might go wrong—this hour, this day, this week, over the course of this complex and sometimes frightening lifespan. I worry about how much I weigh, about what will happen if one day I have to quit running, about whether I’ve made any mistakes in my work, about falling behind on the coursework I need to finish to earn my PhD. I worry that once I have the degree I’ll be unable to find a job in my field, that I’ll be too old, that I’ve already missed the boat, professionally, personally. I worry about my parents and their health and my husband’s parents and their health. I worry that I lack the personal mettle—let’s call it grit—to see my life through effectively. What if I manage to let everyone down? My kids have to get through college and find lives that they love. I have to help them do this. What if I can’t continue to come up with the money? People complain about my husband—a pastor—often enough that I worry about his job. Is he in the right place? Are we in the right place? Are we of any use at all or would everyone be better off without us?

I worry about where we would go if we left. What if people there complained even more? What if there is simply nowhere in the world for someone like me? I’ve stopped social media because I’m so tired of the constant arguing and posturing—other people’s, my own. I would like to be a per- son who actually has a life of substance, not just a life that looks OK in nicely cropped photographs. I’m tired of noise. I crave silence.

A few minutes later, my friend sent another text, asking what I was like when I was her age—specifically, “How was your relationship with God?”

Easy. It was non-existent. I never thought about God.I went to church maybe a handful of times during any given year, usually late and only for the social benefits. I seemed calm then too. Probably peace-filled. That’s just my personality. It’s the way I look. Nothing to do with being spiritual.

“Wow,” she answered. “And you married a pastor.”

That is an accurate statement. That is what I did. And if anything has made me more spiritual over the years, it might be that. Not so much that people expect it of me, though they certainly do. It’s more that people talk to me about spiritual things more often, and so I end up thinking about them more than I might if left to my own devices.

I wish that the life of faith were easier, but I suspect there is a good reason it is not. Finding meaning, discovering how you can fulfill your purpose on earth, learning how to trust God to see you through endless worries about problems, is really the work of a lifetime. I use the word “work” quite intentionally. When I remember that, I also remember that perhaps I am not such a disaster after all. Maybe I am only progressing just as I am supposed to. That gives me a feeling that seems like it might be approaching peace.

–Becky De Oliveira attends Boulder Adventist Church. She is a doctoral student at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. Email her at: [email protected]

01 Apr

All I asked for was a sandwich

In

By Danielle Toddy

I was taking a break in the middle of a hot July day. I hadn’t brought a lunch with me to work and scrolling through all the nearby restaurants and fast food joints in my mind, nothing sounded appealing. I eventually decided to run up to Safeway to see if I could find something that sounded good. As I got into my car, I could barely touch the steering wheel before the air conditioner kicked in and cooled things down a bit. Once at the store, I parked my car and started to walk towards the entrance.

The sun was so bright and seemed to be directly in my eyes, so I headed straight for the door with my head down. That’s when I heard, “Ma’am, could you buy me a sandwich? I’m hungry and don’t have money.” I hadn’t even noticed the man crouching by one of the large pillars near the entrance to the store. I stopped and looked at him; his hands were stretched out, palms up to show me he indeed didn’t have any money. He was older, gray hair on his head and face. He was wearing khaki shorts and a dirty T-shirt and squinting his eyes to block some of the sun. He wasn’t asking for money, just a sandwich. “Sure,” I said. “What kind do you want?” “Just whatever—something with meat.” I went into the store and looked at the menu at the sandwich counter. What would he want? Should I order white bread or wheat? Would he want cheese and if so, what kind? Does he like mayonnaise? Mustard? One or the other or both?

Feeling a little bewildered at picking out what someone else would like, I went back outside. “Do you want to just come in and pick out what you want?” He immediately got up and followed me back into the store. He walked over to the ready-made sandwiches in the cooler and said, “One of these.” We looked through the options and he decided on a roast beef hoagie. As we walked to the register, I asked him if he wanted anything to go with his sandwich. He scrunched up his face and asked if it would be OK if he got some potato salad, warning me that it would cost about three dollars. “Sure. We can do that.”

As we stood in line at the deli, we started talking, and I pointed to a Greek pasta salad that I thought looked good. He started to waiver a bit on his decision about the potato salad and asked if I thought he should get the pasta instead. I told him that because he would be the one eating the food, he should get what he liked. He stuck with the potato salad. Remembering how hot it was outside, I asked him if he wanted to get a drink. He looked at me out of the corner of his eyes. “Over there,” I pointed to the cooler of drinks near us, “Do you want to get something to drink?” He hesitantly walked a few feet away and then turned back—almost like he was making sure I was still there. “Just get what you want,” I said, “I’ll wait right here.” He quickly selected a cold soda and returned. We got the potato salad, paid for his food, and then I handed him some money and told him, “This is for later.” He smiled so big and turned to the cashier and said, “All I asked for was a sandwich!”

One of my favorite things to do is to do more than what’s expected and to do it unexpectedly. It’s good to do what you’ve been asked to do and what you’re expected to do, but it’s fun, it’s exciting, it’s satisfying to do things for others that aren’t expected—things that are a surprise, things where others may never know how they got done or who did them. And I don’t think I’m alone in that.

I know you also enjoy watching others smile because of a kindness that was unexpectedly bestowed upon them. I believe that random acts of kindness and pay-it-forwards are easy ways for us to be a part of God’s hands, feet, eyes, and ears. I believe that God plants this seed of compassion and cheerfulness in our hearts when we give, because it’s in His character and we are His creation (2 Corinthians 9:6-7).

And it’s what our Heavenly Father does for us (Luke 11:11). Not only does God tell us to ask Him for what we need, but He gives us so much more and far greater than we ever deserve (Malachi 3:10-12).

Reflecting on how blessed we are, engaged in the service of the church and its mission in the Rocky Mountain Conference, we are overwhelmed by God’s generosity towards us.

Yet, we find ourselves in the same position as the beggar, asking for a handout because we’re hungry. And God gives us so much more than we ask for—not only forgiveness and mercy, but salvation and grace. He gives us His very life. Like the beggar, we are surprised and exclaim, “All I asked for was a sandwich!”

–Danielle Toddy is RMC human resources director. Email her at: [email protected]

01 Apr

A whiff of fresh air

In

By Rajmund Dabrowski

Connie and George Target were an extraordinary couple. I remember them from my years in England. A detailed obituary of Mrs. Target in a local church paper, Messenger, stated that she “lit up our lives unconventionally and with colour.” For years a Bible instructor, she and her husband George were “larger than life, flamboyant and different.”

They say that freedom does not chill the spirit, even though some people might try to impose their views, rules and regulations, aiming to dampen our innate freedom of spirit. Connie became a Seventh-day Adventist during her upbringing while in Australia. Joining our faith community, her spirit didn’t dampen, though she was disappointed “on discovering she would never go to dances when grown-up, a cherished childhood dream,” Cynthia Benz, my English teacher at Newbold College, wrote in the obituary.

Connie, among her other occupations, was also teacher. Benz recalls that Connie “once taught some unruly girls, who immediately called her a “Bo.” Unsure what they meant, she asked them. ‘Why, Miss, a Bohemian!” She’d won them over and they never gave her any trouble. (Later Connie joked that teaching Newbold students was quite boring by comparison!)”

As for George Target, his life was well recognized in The Telegraph obituary. A novelist, poet, and broadcaster, George “had little patience with doctrinal debate (‘twittering men arguing about inessentials’)” and critiqued churches as “crumbling grey stone edifices.”

Brought up in a Catholic family, Target became a Seventh-day Adventist, and with Connie, who was his second wife, supported the local Hastings church. Later, associated with the Quakers, he continued to be recognized as an evangelical “with vigorous views on the failings of organized religion,” his obituary in The Telegraph said.

Already during my years of being a student of communication in the 1960s, I saw George Target as a challenger of dead “covered-by-moss” religious practices. (My views are not covered by any such rust even now.) Those were the days of Coronation Street, a TV soap series. George Target threw a test to the Anglican church’s ability to communicate “whether it could rewrite the Sermon on the Mount to be delivered during a commercial break.”

My memory recalls a story about his strong conviction that the Christian church, as such, needs continual freshness. As a lay preacher, George visited one of the Adventist churches, whose congregation was proud to gather in a historical church known for its old stained glass windows. As his preaching moment arrived, he walked onto the podium with a brown bag under his arm. Mounting the pulpit, he unwrapped a brick, turned his back to the congregation, and threw it into an old stained glass window, a stunning feature of the old church.

“It’s about time we brought some fresh air into this church,” he said.

He paid for the repair later, but the moment of consternation sent a message still valid in many congregations.

Did he smell “yesterday’s religion,” or was he inspired by a Pauline reference to “stench of death,” vis-à-vis “an aroma redolent with life” (2 Cor. 2: 14-16, MSG)?

Since then, I keep asking how comfortable are we in our “same old, same old,” well-regulated, cookie-cutter Christianity, displaying our Adventist features, stuck in their XIXth century “present truth?” I am a part of such a tribal malaise, yet I also recognize the presence of a need for freshness in what Adventism offers.

Would Jesus feel at home in your church? Would there be enough air to breathe with enough left over for others to enjoy as well? Would Jesus repeat what He read in a synagogue, a reminder of what we ought to be, as God was begging His people to become, on and on and on? Yet, He came to His own, but they rejected Him. Would we allow the car of our lives to be driven by Jesus, as per His invitation? “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am” (Matt 16:24, MSG).

A whiff of some fresh ecclesiastical air, anyone?

–Rajmund Dabrowski is RMC communication director and editor of Mountain Views. Email him at: [email protected]

01 Dec

YOUR PERSONAL PRIORITY

In

By Ed Barnett

It is Tuesday morning and Thanksgiving is a couple of days away. I am sitting in my office reminiscing over this year and thanking God for the blessings He has poured out on our Conference. When we are faithful in working on the mission of the church, God always blesses.

Several years ago, as I was traveling in various countries in Europe, the beautiful castles and churches that always seemed to be built on higher ground struck me. I could see them from miles away. The people wanted their church to be seen. They wanted it to be the light on the hilltop. The builders wanted everyone to see how beautiful their places of worship were, and they created them as places of safety. And yet, when you travel in Europe today, you find that many of the famous old churches and castles are museums.

When built, these edifices were something special, but after following centuries of tradition, they lost what they had so deeply cherished. For a small token today, you can walk through these marvelous edifices and wonder what it must have been like in the “good old days.”

Sometimes I wonder if we don’t tend to do the same thing with our churches. Brothers and sisters, we must be about fulfilling the Gospel Commission today and always. It is our task to take Jesus to the world around us. We must be creative and thoughtful about how we reach out to the ever- changing world. Our missionary approaches must recognize that following Jesus will take us to places and introduce us to people we never expected. As one Bible translation says, let Him be in the driver’s seat, not us. It is not easy reaching out to each community event in our town or city. Even so, it’s not what we do, but what He will do through us.

When we are faithful to Him, God always blesses. This year God has faithfully blessed us with the generosity of our believers across the Conference. As of the end of the month of October we had more than a nine percent tithe increase. Among other things, it means that next year we don’t have to worry about cuts to our pastoral or office staff. We can continue to grow the mission of His church.

Today, I encourage you to continue in your faithfulness to God by focusing on the Gospel Commission. Be faithful in your stewardship as we finish out this year. It really is what helps the mission to continue to grow in our conference.

It’s my prayer that God will richly bless you throughout the rest of this year. Thank you for a job well done.

–Ed Barnett is RMC president.

01 Dec

A CHANGED PERSON RESPONDS

In

By Douglas Inglish

When Jesus came to eat at the home of Zacchaeus, it changed the life of a cheater. The presence of the Holy Spirit in his heart meant that there was no more room for self-dealing, dishonesty, or graft. Jesus coming to his house turned him into a new man, and he showed evidence of this change by dealing severely with his old self. He boldly declared that he intended to return to those he had robbed four times what he had wrongly taken.

That’s pretty impressive. He didn’t need a judge to order restitution plus penalties. He imposed the sentence on himself, and the penalties were higher than most courts would have considered. He was unquestionably changed. As he makes his declaration, you can hear the joy that wells up in his heart as he is relieved of his burden of debt.

But as you know, that’s only part of the promise Zacchaeus made concerning his wealth. In fact, I believe it is actually the less important part of his promise. Read his story again at the beginning of Luke 19 and notice the order of his pledge. Before he addressed his debt to his fellow man, he promised to make things right with God. Half of every- thing he owned was pledged to the poor even before he began to make restitution. The joy of having Jesus in his home was expressed in the joy of his gift to the mission.

Did he need to do that in order to be right with God? People of differing opinions can argue that one all day, but the opinion that carried the day came from Zacchaeus. Clearly he believed it was important to set things right in his own heart. He had a lot of baggage to shed, which he began by unloading half of his wealth and putting it where it could do some good. When you figure in the restitution, he may have had nothing left, but as Jesus confirmed, he had all that mattered: salvation.

I won’t argue whether it was necessary for him to make such a large offering, but I will argue for this point: Zacchaeus understood that his responsibility was not just to those he had cheated. He had a responsibility to those from whom he had taken nothing, and he placed them before the people he cheated.

I don’t believe I have cheated anyone, and I presume you don’t believe you have either. But even if I had, it would be a lower priority for me to make things right with that person than to keep things right with God. To do that, I must engage in the mission. An important element of being part of the mission is to share my wealth with the poor.

When we return tithe and make sacrificial offerings, it benefits those who are poor in this world’s goods, and those who are poor in spirit because Jesus has not come to their hearts. It’s our mission. When Zacchaeus joined in the mission his immediate response was to give sacrificially. It brought joy to him, and joy to his esteemed Guest.

That joy is ours when we engage in the mission through our gifts.

–Douglas L. Inglish is RMC stewardship director.

01 Dec

HOW TITHE IS USED: A SUMMARY

In

By George Crumley

The Bible is clear regarding the importance and blessing of tithing. It is God’s method of providing for His work on Planet Earth. It allows those who have been trained and called to work full time to preach and teach the biblical truths that free people from sin, thus enabling them to live a more abundant and productive life.

Because of this system, workers are able to work exclusively for the advancement of the gospel without worrying about finding a job to support themselves and their families. Below is a brief summary as to how the tithe is used: (Percentages are rounded)

28%

The largest portion of each tithe dollar provides for those who work in pastoral ministry.

25%

This amount is sent to the Union, North American Division, and General Conference entities and helps to support our work in regions beyond Rocky Mountain Conference. A small portion does come back to benefit the local conference in the areas of education and evangelism.

13%

This percentage supports Adventist education. It helps with elementary education, academy education (Campion Academy and Mile High Academy subsidies),college education (Union College subsidy) and educational administration. (Elementary education is also funded by local elementary schools and Rocky Mountain Conference Advance.)

11%

This portion supports the Defined Benefit Retirement Plan which ended December 31, 1999, but still needs to be paid into since there are still workers in the North American Division retiring who have service under this old plan. The Defined Contribution Retirement Plan started January 1, 2000, and is based on a percentage of payroll and is not included in this 11 percent but in departmental costs.

11%

This portion covers departmental coordination and support such as communication services, youth ministries, ministerial services, trust and property services, women’s ministries, prayer ministries, Hispanic ministries, community services, IT services, and church membership support.

8%

This percentage supports our presidential, secretariat, treasury, and human resources, and the support staff within those areas along with liability insurance costs and legal costs.

4%

This category strengthens the conference working capital.

It is because of the participation of our many members in returning tithes and offerings through their local churches that we are able to continue to see God’s work expand.

Thank you for your faithfulness and generosity in advancing God’s kingdom within the Rocky Mountain Conference and throughout the world.

–George Crumley is RMC vice president for finance.

01 Dec

A HABIT OF GENEROSITY

In

By Carol Bolden

Try this experiment: while driving, do your best to keep another driver from getting into your lane. How does that make you feel? Now try looking out for the other driver, even if he’s being pushy. How does that make you feel?

In the first experiment, I can actually feel my heart closing a door. In the second, I feel my heart expanding. Do you think this might be something built into us by our Creator?

Generosity is an attribute of the God who created our beautiful earth to provide for the needs of all. Plants and animals give and receive. This mutualism, or relationship in which both species benefit, is inherent in the plant and animal kingdom. As humans, we also live in mutualism, i.e. giving off carbon dioxide to benefit plants, who give off oxygen to benefit humans. But as humans, we can make conscious choices to bless others.

We’re programmed to be generous like the God who made us in His image. And that generosity benefits us in return. Generosity lowers blood pressure as much as medication or exercise, according to one study. It also lowers the risk of dementia, reduces anxiety and depression, improves chronic pain management, and more.

The study also reported that generosity toward a spouse was linked to of a sense of marital satisfaction for the giver as well as the receiving spouse.

Generosity can also extend our lives. A study in Marin, California, found that volunteering dramatically reduced mortality rates.

According to researcher Christian Smith, feeling good is a product of doing good. It’s built into our neurochemistry. Giving makes us happy. It triggers feel-good chemicals like endorphins, dopamine, and oxytocin. Generosity lowers our stress and improves our relationships.

I came across this story of a generous, open heart that happened in Atlanta, during Thanksgiving week. A home- less man was digging in the trash outside of the Omni Hotel when he found a wallet. The man, Joel Hartman, took the wallet to the hotel, hoping to return it to the guest. The hotel management was so impressed with Hartman’s honesty that they gave him a room for the weekend, free room service, a new wardrobe, and even a make-over.

But that’s not the end of the story. When the media got hold of the story, his family, who had been looking for him for years, finally found him. And Hartman—who suffered from a medical condition—is receiving the medical help he needs.

While presumably we don’t give just so that we can receive, there is a reward in giving, whether it be a sense of satisfaction and wellbeing or even something tangible like what Hartman received. God designed it that way.

Do you consider yourself a generous person? According to author Mike Hyatt, if we want the full positive effect of generosity, we have to make it a lifestyle.

As we near the end of the year, I’m making a conscious decision to be more generous every day—with my time, my money, my resources. Won’t you join me?

–Carol Bolden provides editorial support for the RMC communication department.

01 Dec

Blessings

In

By Keifer Dooley

It was late August and I was back at work in the RMC administrative offices after spending a solid eight weeks working at Glacier View Ranch for summer camp. The sun was beginning to set as I left the office, leaving the air fresh, balmy and a cool 72 degrees. As I made my way to I-25, I began to roll down my windows, letting the perfect late summer air wash through my car. “Perfect,” I thought, “I’m driving my nice new 2018 Subaru WRX, it’s a beautiful evening, and I’m going to see my wonderful fiancée. Praise God!” The words of Chance the Rapper’s song, “Blessings,” played in my head, “When the praises go up, the blessings come down. It seems like blessings keep falling in my lap!”

As my windows whirred down, I slowed to stop at a red light. I glanced out and saw a young man with his thumb in the air. Windows down, eye contact made, car rolling to a stop …I resisted an urge to lock my eyes on the car in front of me or to pull out my phone. “Hey man, I’m heading toward 25,” I shouted out the window, “but if that’ll help, hop in!”

Over the next 3.5 miles, Eli told me a bit about his life— his recent abdominal surgery to repair a ruptured spleen, his girlfriend who was in the hospital on Downing Street fighting Type 1 diabetes, and how, after leaving visitation hours at the hospital, he had found the bus to downtown was cancelled. This was bad news because he had to make the 6 p.m. check-in time at New Genesis, a residence for displaced individuals. Although Eli was working two jobs, he was struggling to afford housing, let alone keep up with hospital bills. He shared how he was hoping to save enough by staying at New Genesis to get on his feet and have a place of his own in a few months.

In a few minutes, as I pulled over to let Eli out, he said, “Hey brother, let me pray for you.” In his prayer, Eli gave thanks to God for the Genesis shelter, for the ride that I gave him to ensure that he kept his good status with their community, and for the fact that both he and his girlfriend were “still breathing.” I said a quick prayer for Eli in response and as I finished, he pulled out a cross shaped necklace and said, “Kiefer, I’m all good because He is so good! I give thanks and praise to Jesus every day for what He did for me, and for you, on a cross just like this one.”

As I pulled away, I thought about the joy that I’d been experiencing as I reveled in a few of the blessings that God poured out on my lap. And while Eli’s profound gratitude for the little things, in the midst of some truly unfortunate circumstances, stood in stark juxtaposition to the same feelings I had been celebrating only 15 minutes earlier, they all stemmed from one fact: the pure goodness of our God. Chance the Rapper’s lyrics played in my mind again and echoed the words of King David in Psalm 98:28–29, written so many years earlier: “You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

This holiday season, take a moment to remember that God is good. Give praise to him in all things. And with a little, or a lot, find a way to give to your community—whether it is money in tithes or offerings, time in volunteering, or simply giving like Eli did, through uplifting testimony and praise to Jesus!

Kiefer Dooley is RMC associate youth director.

 

01 Dec

GENEROSITY LEADS TO MISSION

In

By Rajmund Dabrowski

My nearly two decades of engagement at the world church headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland taught me the important lesson that my mission in life is found where I am. I was blessed to discover that reaching out to people of different cultures is a showcase of imagination, creativity, boldness, and risk taking. I also discovered that “one [method] size does not fit all.” I learned that generosity can make things happen, and each of us is responsible for making mission happen.

During a visit to Bucharest, Romania, Beatrice Lospa taught me a lesson in faithfulness. For her, it was an experiment in mission that surprised even her church leadership with the national impact of one simple idea.

Along with a couple of young colleagues from a Bible correspondence school, she recommended an unusual idea— how about introducing the Bible to everyone in the country?

As in many lands with a religious majority, the Orthodox Christians in Romania hear Bible stories from priests. Beatrice and her friends proposed renting store-front rooms in different cities to be turned into religious reading clubs.

Naturally, they needed funding. But would it come, they wondered? And they prayed. With a limited budget, the Sola Scriptura clubs were established and turned into Bible-read- ing venues. A slogan on a single city billboard—that some thought of as being rather risky—stated: “If you know how to read, and you have not read the Bible, you have not read at all! Join a Sola Scriptura reading club.”

The story gets more exciting with the arrival of a check for 60,000 euros from an anonymous Bible reader. He wasn’t even a member of Beatrice’s faith community. It turned out that he owned 60 percent of the roadside billboards across the country. He made an offer to help with even more, and enabled a believing and creative group of young people to place hundreds of billboards across the country.

Surprisingly, people came—old and young, ordinary people, university professors, and a member of parliament or two. Soon they had to organize more efficiently because people were flooding their clubs. After completing the simple reading of Scriptures, discussions followed with participants who asked: Is there more we can study?

A Bible reading? Anything novel in it for you and me? Yet . . .

It made me reflect and conclude that our generosity turns the wheels of our Christian mission. Each of us is responsible for it, and the Spirit of God will add His power as He turns our imagination, creativity, boldness, and risk-taking into an individual story of faithfulness.

–Rajmund Dabrowski is RMC communication director.

01 Dec

A Message to Partners in Ministry

In

By Douglas Inglish

As a member of the Rocky Mountain Conference, it is your right to know the financial situation of your Conference. Ellen White makes it clear that pastors who do not preach about tithes and offerings are neglecting their duty (see Ellen G. White, Counsels on Stewardship, p. 87). Conference leaders believe that our members should know that we encourage pastors to be faithful in the presentation of this message. Here is an excerpt from a recent email I sent to all pastors:

We started off the year with impressively strong tithe growth.
The last few months have had a distinct downward trend of one percent or so each month.
At this rate, we will end the year about seven percent up.

That sounds good, but it’s not good enough (talk to the RMC vice president for finance if there is any doubt).Our mission depends on the faithful stewardship of your members. The best thing you can do at this point is to make sure your members hear an uplifting, positive message about the joy of giving before the end of the year. If your last such message was more than a month ago, do not end the year without a stewardship sermon.

Whether your pastor recently presented such a message or soon will, I pray that the message was inspirational and encouraging, and that we will all be blessed by witnessing the faithfulness of our members.

–Douglas L. Inglish is RMC stewardship director.

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