| Perrysburg church multiplies 'talents' |
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| Written by BILL RYAN Sentinel Religion Editor | ||||
| Friday, 04 November 2011 10:37 | ||||
Through Grace Church's "talents" investment, the talents have more than doubled the church's investment with more on the way. The church distributed more than $7,000 in September, by handing out $20 bills, one each to up to 400 members. Not all of the $8,000 available was distributed as some couples and families only took one envelope for the family, rather than one per person. The church asked them to mimic the gospel parable of the servants who were trusted with talents, also called bags of gold, and doubled the investment for their master. As of earlier this week, the preliminary figures for the "servants" of Grace was more than $18,000 returned for the missions of the church. Associate pastor Kerry Wood, who helped coordinate the effort, said there is still a minimum of $1,500 to $2,000 in seed money that has yet to be returned along with any additional funds garnered. Wood also said some people have turned in a first harvest with additional monies expected. Jackie Knepper, chair of mission team, shared the excitement of all the church and its members. "We're all thrilled that we had such a great return," Knepper said. "It was a great success on so many levels." She added that people were meditating on the parable of the talents and thinking about the talents they have and how those can be used for greater things. Knepper said the seed money would likely be returned to the church's mission fund to be used for ongoing mission projects, with the remainder raised to go as designated by the people. Thus, at this point, more than $11,000 additional was raised for the various missions. Knepper said she and her husband pooled their money and hosted a party to discuss missions. The invited guests from whom donations were solicited, were mostly outside the church. "We had a lot of fun, discussed missions, and the people were very generous," she said. She added many of the congregation did not share how they raised the funds, but the church is anxious to hear more stories. Both she and Wood said they are aware of roughly 100 envelopes outstanding as some people are still completing their projects. There was a wide variety of projects completed to use the members' talents. • Holly Samuelson, who is an expert in organizing, sold her services to help organize garages or basements. She also refinished a piece of furniture. • A man bought a fishing license with his seed money. He and another man went fishing, caught salmon and sold the salmon with the proceeds going to missions.
He said calling it "Talents Showcase" led some to believe the focus was more singing and entertainment, as opposed to being a "church bazaar with a twist." Ideas and items for sale were shared or showcased at a gala event Oct. 23, with more than 50 tables at the church. Many featured a wide variety of baked goods, including one baker who brought samples of her pies. Not only is she baking pies for holiday parties or other meals, she would deliver it in the Perrysburg area to the purchaser on a specific day. She was scheduling baking and delivery days through the holidays. One of the more original ideas included Mallory Gremler, a freshman at Perrysburg High School, who cut up old gift cards and credit cards and made them into decorative bracelets. She learned of something similar which had been featured at an art gallery in New York. Mary Hennings is an expert with coupons. At the showcase she featured nearly $250 in groceries which was being donated to the Perrysburg Christians United food bank. She spent only $85, which included her seed money and other donations. The difference was through discounts, sales and her use of coupons. She also was willing to assist others with effective coupon use. There was a variety of jewelry, handmade greeting cards and a couple who had mounted and/or framed completed jigsaw puzzles for sale. Many tables featured handmade items, and other crafts. • Kay Howard compiled 50 original stories of faith and was selling a bound booklet of the collection. • Matt Richards, a glass artist, was selling some of his self-blown glass ornaments and decorations. • One lady sold her homemade apple sauce. • One teen showcased scrapbooking and created Internet pages or items for websites. • A gala concert is being planned at the church to garner donations. "There was a lot of hard work involved by a lot of people," Knepper said. "Our mission projects are the real winners." |
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| Last Updated on Friday, 04 November 2011 11:31 |
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