Why I support Presbyterian Church of the Master with my monetary donations is part of a much larger question. I am not a “cradle” Presbyterian, I was raised in the Baptist Church, practice an organized sect of Buddhism and then became a Catholic. Growing up, I remember my mother putting in a one dollar bill at every worship service and whether other money was given other than that I don’t know. She put one dollar in the offering plate in the other churches she went to until the day she died. Giving to a church was not something I was taught, not something I witnessed growing up. Being an active member in a congregation was not something I learned either.

I became a Presbyterian many years into my marriage to a Presbyterian minister and not because of my marriage, but because I learned about what the PC(USA) stood for: human dignity, woman’s rights and empowerment, anti-racism, gender justice and inclusivity, mission and community.

As Bob and I have moved from one PC(USA) church to another, I have witnessed churches who talk about mission, talk about caring for the vulnerable among us, but don’t actually do anything except “throw money” at the problem. They don’t get their hands dirty, they don’t do.

I first came to PCM for a PW event and was immediately taken with the openness of spirit, the hands-on approach to mission in the community and in the world. When Bob sensed a call, I wanted to dig in and become a part of the worship, celebration, mission and outreach of this congregation. I was eager to get my hands dirty!

I support the mission of PCM because it aligns with my maturing faith in God and in Jesus Christ. When the PC(USA) embraced the Matthew 25 initiative I was all in. This is what we are to do as Christians during this turbulent and challenging time: feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and those in prison, welcome the stranger, house the unhoused. PCM does these things each and every day, not just on Sundays when we gather for worship celebration and not just with dollars and cents or credit cards, but with hands and feet. I am very proud to support the continuing mission work and worship of PCM now and into the future. This community of faith needs it, Omaha needs and so too the world.