Enough Classes at St. Matthew’s

EnoughThe room is larger than the group gathered in it. The tables hold five to six people each and there are  extra people on the outskirts with borrowed chairs. The tables are set with coffee, tea and other light refreshments to encourage those in attendance to congregate.  It is Sunday at 9:45 a.m., which is between the two regularly scheduled services at 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.
The din of collective voices fills the room like a dinner party at which everyone knows each other.  No one conversation stands out but each one lends a family feeling to the high-ceilinged space. Everyone is welcome. Here there is no limit, no entrance fee and no person left out. This room is the aptly named Fellowship Hall at St. Matthews Methodist Church in Bowie, Md.; however, it was not the usual Sunday service.
It was St. Matthews’ first seminar in response to earthly problems. The Enough: Discovering Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity seminar was focused on the headlin- making topic of late – financial management.
Besides tithing, does the Bible talk about money at all? What guidance on financial management  can the people of today find in the Bible? What did Jesus say about saving, spending and giving away money?
Those answers are found not only in the Bible but the Enough book written by Adam Hamilton, the senior pastor at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas.
“Jesus was not at all afraid to talk about money or possessions. So church is the perfect place to talk about it now,” said Reverend Ginger, the pastor of St. Matthew’s since July 2011. “Jesus knew money could get in the way of a deeper relationship with God.”
The goal of the seminar was to invite people to think about what truly matters in their lives and link that with how they spend.
To her it was a stimulus for why a person should structure a budget around important priorities, which puts God first, said Linda Cooper, the housing cooperation manager of St. Matthew’s and a church member since the 60’s.
“ As long as there has been humanity, money has been an issue. It is a human challenge,” said Cooper.
Christians need to be educated to make financial decisions founded in faith. This seminar educated the community at St. Matthews, said Cooper.
“It strengthened my resolve around stewardship,” Rev. Ginger said. “ Jesus said ‘You can’t serve God and wealth.’”
Even those who didn’t attend the seminar were given a free copy of the book, which also comes with Contentment Prayer key tags.
They read  –  Lord, help me to be grateful for what I have, to remember that I don’t need most of what I want, and that joy is found in simplicity and generosity.
Rev. Ginger and other church members thought giving out books for free, even without the promise of attending the seminar, was a great way to model generosity, she said. The money for those books was not in the budget, but they found it.
“The church should live in the world. It should connect the teachings of the faith with the domain of the world,” said Cooper. “Ginger has already asked the congregation for ideas for future seminars. I can’t wait for more.”
With the feedback from this first one being overwhelmingly positive, more seminars are in St. Matthew’s future, Rev. Ginger said. For her is was a great thing to see members of the congregation coming together to facilitate discussions for the small group exercises during the Enough seminars.
“My vision for St. Matthew’s is to have more member- to-member interaction. I think the greater  the number of opportunities for members to have conversations about their faith the better,” said Rev. Ginger.
Every member of the congregation was asked to submit topic ideas for future seminars, and church committee members are busy compiling the responses to schedule more, trying to keep them short but meaningful.
In fact, a new, five-session seminar has already started for Advent, focusing on the tensions and hopes of the season. The first meeting  had so many people came that extra chairs were needed.