A Kind of Ministry
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by Carolyn Stevens
The following is a letter written to Tilden Edwards and Patricia Clark from Carolyn Stevens, a member of Shalem's Advisory Council who has been active in Shalem events and fundraising efforts for several years.I've been thinking of you both and of Shalem this evening--as always with great affection and gratitude.
I'm at a fundraising training program in Memphis--a week-long small group seminar with one of the top experts. Among our group of nine students are the president and vice president for development of a small liberal arts college in Texas that is associated with the Presbyterian church.
We had dinner together this evening, and the three of us were joined by a young woman who is somewhat new to fundraising. On the walk back to our hotel, she mentioned her difficulty in explaining to her peers how it was that she was unafraid/unashamed to ask for money.
Sam, the college president, told her about a theologian who was his mentor and who inspired him years ago with his own answer to that query: First, I am not asking for myself; second, I believe in my institution and its mission; third, God tells us that givers live better lives than takers, so in asking I'm merely helping someone be more fufilled.
It was a complete reply--but of course I do find it hard not to add my two cents, so I shared my experience that in working with a spiritual development organization I discovered the deepest personal meaning of my work, that it is a kind of a ministry. Further (and you've heard this from me often) the word that embraces the work of asking, and giving, and stewardship of gifts--philanthropy--in its roots echoes the potential ministry of a development officer. Philanthropy means "love of mankind," the greatest example of which, of course, is God's boundless love for us. So that when we help enable joyful giving to take place, we mirror and reflect God's love for God's children. I added that I have a little mantra that I use to bolster my courage before asking; in an abbreviated way it embodies the full train of thought concerning philanthropy--ministry--and reflecting God's love and will. I tell myself, "Carolyn, be a god!" Of course they laughed.
Karen, the college vice president, then asked what the name of the spiritual development organization was, and as I said, "Shalem," so did she, in unison. She knew of Shalem from her home, a little town of 20,000, sixty miles outside San Antonio.
It was a lovely moment. In the elevator she shared her answer to the question of how we can ask others for money: "Because the world isn't finished yet." I almost floated to my room--buoyed as always by voicing again the nature of fundraising as a calling and ministry, an understanding that has animated my professional life and converted it to my real life in the Spirit--an understanding that is a constant gift to me, and I pray, also a gift through me to the world. It is a gift that Shalem gave to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I thank God for Shalem, for you and the guidance you (and of course many others) have given to that remarkable community.
I hope you will feel affirmed and encouraged that the Light you help so many of us begin to glimpse shines through us to many lives. Your constant care has nurtured the refraction of that Light so that it now intersects in far away and unlikely places--such as a small seminar of fundraisers in Memphis, where a person with experience of Shalem finds a person from thousands of miles away who has a warm, interested awareness of Shalem. That's pretty special for a ragtag band of candle-gazers!
© 2008 The Shalem Institute.