Every year when the holidays come around, families, communities and congregations reflect on their time-honored traditions. Maybe it’s a precious handmade decoration, a delicious family recipe or the special hymns only sung this time of year — we all have a favorite way we celebrate.
Since its inception in 2013, Presbyterians have found joy in the practice of fostering generosity through the Presbyterian Giving Catalog, using Giving Tuesday as the perfect opportunity.
Today, Giving Tuesday, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is rallying around the Giving Catalog, a beloved opportunity that allows Presbyterian donors to Give with a Purpose to the causes they care most about.
When you page through the Giving Catalog, you’ll find the Pair of Goats item, which First Presbyterian Church of Scottsburg, Indiana, has been involved with for some time, building their own tradition along the way.
After joining First Scottsburg, Cheryl Davenport recalled that her former congregation, Henryville Presbyterian, supported ministries that utilized goats to support people growing businesses around the world. She learned that goats have great potential for those living on the margins: yogurt, milk, cheese and lots of baby goats! Cheryl and then-pastor Peter Davies decided that First Scottsburg should get in on goat-giving through the Giving Catalog. And so, their new tradition was born — using money from a Birthday Fund to purchase Pairs of Goats. Each year they got more creative and even added a goat puppet, later named (wait for it) “Mr. Goat,” who has been the face of this tradition over the years.
A monthly dialogue with their hairy friend became a favorite part of morning worship. Mr. Goat (and a helpful volunteer) welcomes visitors to worship and reads the month’s birthdays, encouraging members to give back on the day they normally would expect to receive. Donations given in honor of those celebrating helped the fund grow and as the program gained traction, more Pairs of Goats were given, more members got involved, and Mr. Goat even acquired his own house in the church narthex!
Thanks to their commitment to give rather than receive, this small church community has given 50 Pairs of Goats to date — that’s roughly a goat per month! While they don’t know the names or stories of the folk who receive these Scottsburg goats, they know that their gifts speak of the love of our generous, caring God.
This Giving Tuesday, we invite you to start a new tradition and use the Giving Catalog to find a cause that speaks to you. Whether your passion is water, hunger, education or sustaining communities, the Giving Catalog allows us all to Give with a Purpose. Visit pcusa.org/givingtuesday today.
Contribution submitted by First Presbyterian Church of Scottsburg, Indiana
Let us join in prayer for:
Lisa Love, Deputy General Counsel, Legal, The Presbyterian Foundation
Samantha Lund, Administrative Manager, Legal & Risk Management, Administrative Service Group
Let us pray:
To make my offering to you, God,
Is to bring back to memory
That you are the source of all gifts, and
The one from whom all blessings flow.
When we join our gifts with the gifts of others, we are reminded that we cannot go it alone.
We are in the company of the household of faith and the whole host of witnesses who went before.
Each gift I make is a “thank you” for the community of faith where I can share my griefs and burdens, my joys and excitement.
Each gift is a “thank you,” God, for the gift of life.
Each gift is an act of hope in God’s future for all Creation.
Each gift is a sign of our thanks and gratitude.
May it always be so.
Amen.
Prayer by the Rev. Rosemary Mitchell (Honorably Retired)
Giving Tuesday, which is being observed today in more than 150 countries, exists for one purpose: to celebrate and encourage giving. We Presbyterians have a strong history of giving, and we see examples of this all over the world: schools, hospitals, beautiful churches and exciting ministries of justice, peace and mercy with the name Presbyterian attached to them have enlivened a world more like God’s realm in almost every place in God’s Creation. I don’t know about you, but I spark with joy whenever I see an institution or church that proudly places the name or logo of our denomination on their sign. It causes me to become prideful, yes, but primarily thankful for the saints who have gone before us and shown us how they were faithful. Their legacy of giving shines like a lodestar in our world. As a presbytery executive friend of mine often says, “I am sinfully proud to be a Presbyterian!”
Giving Tuesday allows us to celebrate what makes us proud to be Presbyterian.
