I was first asked to speak about pledging almost 10 years ago, shortly after we had joined Trinity. At the time, I spoke primarily about what Trinity meant to us as the context for our pledging. Well, times change, faith grows, and hopefully our pledges do, too. So how do I think about pledging today? Is it now in the context of serving on the Budget Committee, and therefore knowing right to the penny how much it costs to maintain our beautiful building and to fund our worship, education and outreach programs? Or, is it based on a sense of my obligation from being one of your elected representatives on the Vestry?

Well, maybe a little.

But what fundamentally shapes our pledging today is not the budget need, not our duty, not even our love of the Trinity community, but our relationship with God. In making our pledge, we ask ourselves:

 -Have we been blessed in our lives?
-Has faith helped us through good and bad times?
-Has God shown us generosity?
-Have we shown God our gratitude?
-Could we do more?

There is no single right way to think about pledging. For us it has been a journey—now we give through Trinity, to God.

—Ron Akie