Supporting Causes that are Part of God’s Movement
October 29, 2018
“...Your truest self surfaces when you practice the discipline of giving,” First UMC Lubbock Rev. Dr. Craig Curry shared. “That self is transformed by what love has really done to us. God calls us together to accomplish His will on earth and our resources are His. As we give ourselves away, this new self blossoms, and we grow in our trust that God will replenish us.”
For a man who surrendered to his call at the age of fourteen and began tithing 10% of his income in college, Craig is no stranger to the act of giving oneself over to God’s work in the world. It was something ingrained during his childhood, as it was modeled by his parents and grandparents. Now, it is a value he models for others.
“In college, when I was giving $5 a week and only making $50 as the Youth Director at First UMC Plainview, that was hard. The older I became, though, the more I learned about sacrificial giving, going beyond a tithe, and supporting causes I sensed were part of God’s movement.”
We are grateful that the TMF Leadership Ministry is a place that Craig sees God working.
While Craig believes much of the UMC is functioning within a leadership vacuum, a detrimental state considering that leadership is a catalyst for effectiveness, resilience, and growth. He also believes TMF is being faithful to address this vacuum by investing in leaders through our Leadership Ministry.
Since Craig was a participant in the Entrepreneurial Pastors group and the Tall Steeple group, he has firsthand experience of what Leadership Ministry can do to help increase effectiveness. “I can see how the TMF Leadership Ministry made a difference in my life,” Craig noted. “My experience grew through my participation and that impressed me. TMF has invested in local churches, pastors, conferences, and other leaders. It encourages those leaders to focus on Kingdom work and to get out of the box. I greatly appreciate their investment in us.”
His firsthand experience and his unwavering belief that leadership is critical at this point in the church’s life encouraged him to make a gift. “Supporting TMF’s Leadership Ministry extends my ability to make a difference and I want to know that I have been part of something that enables my friends and even colleagues who come after me to have a better ministry journey than I did,” Craig shared.
As we continue our work of stewarding potential and encouraging leaders to bring about the world that God imagines, we are thankful to have board members like Craig who believes in our mission and purpose so passionately that he has continued modeling his generosity with TMF.