Thoughts from
Jim Teague,
Director of Communications
This past Sunday, we kicked off the 2026 Stewardship Campaign with the first in a series of “Growing Our Table” video skits meant to encourage pledging to give in the coming calendar year.
This year’s videos are significantly different from the previous ones we’ve done in recent years. I’ll tell you why momentarily and let you in on some “behind-the-scenes” information on this year’s videos.
Let me share a bit about those videos from previous years. Those were almost always interviews of longtime members or regular attendees who are/were willing to share how they went about making their decision on how much to give each year to First Presbyterian Church of Evanston.
Having been the one who conducted most of those interviews over the past eight years, I can give you first-hand knowledge about the individuals selected—faithful givers all—who were chosen to appear in them.
Amazingly, these things were true of every one of those who were interviewed:
• They were also already committing a significant amount of time to the church.
• They put prayer at or near the top of their “to do list” as part of making their giving decision, whether as individuals or as a couple.
• They had developed the habit of giving regularly to their church (whether at First Pres or somewhere else) over a period of years.
This fall, as those involved in the stewardship campaign considered where our efforts would best be placed, we agreed that one of the goals is to strongly encourage those who have never made a pledge before to do so for 2026. If you’ve watched this Sunday’s video, you already know why.
Pledging does three things:
– The greater percentage of our total giving that comes from pledges helps improve the accuracy of our budgeting process.
– Those who pledge and set up automatic payments are, naturally, more consistent in their giving, which also helps with budgeting.
– This year, pledging is particularly helpful as we prepare to bring on a new senior pastor because a church with a higher percentage of the congregation making pledges (no matter what the size) says a lot to a pastoral candidate about that church’s commitment to the future.
So, with a campaign theme of “Growing Our Table” and a focus on 2026 being a year of growth and change, we wanted our videos to be different this year. We hope they make it clear to those who have never pledged before that it is both a financial benefit to the church and a spiritual benefit to them to prayerfully consider making a pledge (of any amount) for the coming year.
Okay, here are some fun facts about this year’s videos:
– Yep, that’s our own supremely talented Crofton Coleman, praise band director, up there on the screen playing the son.
– The father is played by one of my oldest and dearest friends, Mark Bernstein. Mark is now retired as a high school special education teacher, but he continues his career as a professional actor, stage director and writer. He was recently a member of the theatre faculty at Concordia University-River Forest, where he directed multiple musicals, student showcases, and plays. He is a graduate of the Second City school of improv (where he made a number of main stage appearances). Before moving to Chicago he worked mornings delivering baked goods to support his acting career in Washington D.C.
– The role of the daughter is played by Mark’s daughter, Ella Bernstein, who has almost as long a list of performance credits as her dad. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing her in a host of shows from The Pirates of Penzance to the Wizard of Oz.
– The role of the card table in this week’s video is played by the one my in laws gave Linda and me a few years ago. It has a ton of family history. More special appearances by family tables are yet to come!
One of the ideas I hope comes through in each of these stewardship videos is the idea that we are far more focused on the idea of everyone giving prayerfully and cheerfully—in whatever amount they choose—than on the size of the gifts. In Psalm 50, the Lord says “For every wild animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.” It goes on to say it is “the sacrifice of thanksgiving” that God seeks. We can trust that God will make a way for the church’s provision. Our part is to be cheerful givers.
Our next video skit will be shown during this Sunday’s service. I hope you’re looking forward to it!
In Christ,
Jim Teague
FPCE Director of Communications
