Good Thursday morning –

It’s just a week until Christmas Day. No doubt you have many, many loose ends to tie up in the next six days. At the risk of adding another task to your to-do list, let me offer this simple suggestion.

Many congregations will provide an opportunity for a special offering this weekend or on Christmas Eve. It’s a good idea – this is the most “giving” time of the year.

This year add an extra touch by thanking everyone who gives to this special offering a personal message of thanks.

Make it simple. After Christmas and before the New Year festivities, grab a list of people who gave to your special Christmas offering, and write each one a Thank You note, mentioning just briefly how their offering helped. Send it to them in the mail.

Work with your financial secretary to get names and addresses of those who give. Especially, you’ll want to capture information from guests who give by check.

I’ll make this easy for you – adapt this script to fit your circumstances.

Dear John and Barb,

Thank you for your generous Christmas Eve gift. You are so thoughtful to think of the homeless in our community. Your gift will help United Caring Services serve three hot meals every day of the week during this cold winter.

With gratitude, your pastor, Michael.

Let me know how this goes!

=Michael