Why I Pledge to Trinity Church
Comments by Lee Ann Dangelo
Trinity on the Green, New Haven, CT
When Jim called and asked me if I would talk about why we pledge to Trinity Church, I thought maybe he had the wrong number.
Certainly my husband Tino and I have been coming to Trinity for 15 years and we have completed pledge cards for most of them. BUT certainly we have not been able to pledge 10s of thousands of dollars and I often wondered if our amount made much of a difference.
So I said to Jim "you may want to check your records...certainly we have not given enough to be privileged to talk on such a topic" And he said "that doesn't matter. Just that you HAVE pledged is what matters." His wise words hit me.
So I started thinking....WHY do we give?
And I discovered there are some things that are hard to put into words. Except that there is a feeling when we come here...a feeling of comfort, peace, calm...even when we have the 2 girls with us and we are rushing out of the house, hoping to make it to church by the second reading...here is where we come to get re-connected with God and to hear the Word of the Lord. To learn more about what he is saying to us and how to live a Christian life. Trinity communicates God's message in unique ways...through music, kids church school, adult education, The Trinity Players, and so many other ways.
Growing up, I went to Catholic school, St. Francis of Assisi in Torrington, CT. There were 2 or 3 other catholic schools in town as well. It helped to lay a fabulous foundation of Christian teaching.
As my own children approached school age and we evaluated Christian education benefits and costs, I called my mom and asked WHY she had sent my brother and me to Catholic school for 8 years.
Certainly I expected that she would tell me something profound about learning more about the Word of God or the value of Christian teaching. She simply said "Because we only had one car!"
Really? I asked what did that matter. Well she explained there was no way for us to get you to CCD and everyone went to CCD!" So the one car bit threw me...but obviously they had placed a high value on Christian education. So they made the financial sacrifice. Today only one Catholic school remains open in town.
As we pay our bills weekly, for services and goods, it seems only right that we contribute to the operations of the church. However it is difficult to place a dollar value on the benefits we receive, which are priceless.
So why do we pledge?
Because - and I quote "At Trinity, we recognize that this is the Lord's Table and all are welcome...regardless of where you are on your faith journey."
We hope that our pledge will help keep the Trinity spirit alive, so that our children, other children and adults can find their way on their journey to Christ.
Trinity offers support on that journey like no other place we have found. Please do not discount your ability to pledge or your pledge amount as I did. "It ONLY matters that you do pledge"...to keep His Word alive.