> > *What a wonderful and uplifting story! Thanks so much for sending > it. I hope that you and yours have a joyful Christmas!* > *Grace*
> **Pastor's Challenge Shocks Congregation > By HELEN O'NEILL, > AP > Posted: 2007-12-22 07:00:06 > CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio (Dec. 20) - The Rev. Hamilton Coe Throckmorton > shivered with anticipation as he gazed at the loot - wads of $50 bills piled > high beside boxes of crayons in a Sunday school classroom. > > Cautiously, he locked the door. Then he started counting. > > Photo Gallery: What Happened to the Money? > Amy Sancetta, AP > > Reverend Hamilton Throckmorton, right, surprised his congregation in > Chagrin Falls, Ohio, when he followed up a sermon by handing out $40,000 in > cash. > > <http://news.aol.com/story/_a/pastors-challenge-shocks-congregation/20071220192509990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001#> > > <http://news.aol.com/story/_a/pastors-challenge-shocks-congregation/20071220192509990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001#> > 1 > of 9 > It was a balmy Friday evening in September. From several floors below > faint melodies drifted up - the choir practicing for Sunday service. > > Throckmorton was oblivious. For hours, perched awkwardly on child-sized > wooden stools surrounded by biblical murals and children's drawings, the > pastor and a handful of coconspirators concentrated on the count. > > Forty-thousand dollars. Throckmorton smiled in satisfaction as he stashed > the money in a safe. > > That Sunday, the 52-year-old minister donned his creamy white robes, swept > to the pulpit and delivered one of the most extraordinary sermons of his > life. > > First he read from the Gospel of Matthew. > > "And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to > every man according to his ability." > > Then he explained the parable of the talents, which tells of the rich > master who entrusts three servants with a sum of money - "talents" - and > instructs them to go forth and do good. The master lavishes praise on the > two servants who double their money. But he casts into the wilderness the > one so afraid to take a risk that he buries his share. > > Throckmorton spends up to 20 hours working on his weekly homily, and his > clear diction, contemplative message and ringing voice command the church. > Gazing down from the pulpit that Sunday, Throckmorton dropped his bombshell. > > Like the master, he would entrust each adult with a sum of money - in this > case, $50. Church members had seven weeks to find ways to double their > money, the proceeds to go toward church missions. > > "Live the parable of the talents!" Throckmorton exhorted, as assistants > handed out hundreds of red envelops stuffed with crisp $50 bills and stunned > church members did quick mental calculations, wondering where all the money > had come from. There are about 1,700 in the congregation, though not > everyone attends each week. > > The cash, Throckmorton explained, was loaned by several anonymous donors. > > In her regular pew at the back of the church, where she has listened to > sermons for 40 years, 73-year-old Barbara Gates gasped. What kind of kooky > nonsense is this, she thought. > > "Sheer madness," sniffed retired accountant Wayne Albers, 85, to his wife, > Marnie, who hushed him as he whispered loudly. "Why can't the church just > collect money the old-fashioned way?" > > In a center pew, Ann Nagy's eyes moistened as she considered her ailing, > beloved father, his suffering, and the song she had written to comfort him > near death. She nudged her husband Scott. "Give me your $50," she whispered. > Nagy knew exactly what she would do. > > Throckmorton wrapped up his two morning services by saying that children > would get $10. And he assured the congregation that anyone who didn't feel > comfortable could simply return the money. No consignment to outer darkness > for those who didn't participate. > > Throckmorton is warm and engaging and approachable, as comfortable talking > about the Cleveland Indians baseball team as he is discussing scripture. At > the Federated Church, he is known simply as Hamilton. > > But as church members spilled into the late summer sunshine that morning > to ponder their skills and their souls, there were many who thought: > Hamilton is really pushing us this time. > > "There was definitely this tension, this pressure to live up to > something," said Hal Maskiell, a 62-year-old retired Navy pilot who spent > days trying to figure out how to meet the challenge. > > Maskiell's passion is flying a four-seater Cessna 172 Skyhawk over the > Cuyahoga County hills. He decided to use his $50 to rent air time from > Portage County airport and charge $30 for half-hour rides. Church members > eagerly signed up. Maskiell was thrilled to get hours of flying time, and he > raised $700. > > His girlfriend, Kathy Marous, 55, was far less confident. What talents do > I have, she thought dejectedly. She was tempted to give the money back. > > And then Marous found an old family recipe for tomato soup, one she hadn't > made in 19 years. She remembered how much she had enjoyed the chopping and > the cooking and the canning and the smells. With Hal's encouragement Marous > dug out her pots. She bought three pecks of tomatoes. Suddenly she was > chopping and cooking and canning again. At $5 a jar, she made $180. > > "I just never imagined people would pay money for the things I made," > Marous exclaimed. > > Others felt the same way. Barbara Gates raised $450 crafting pendants from > beads and sea glass - pieces she had casually made for her grandchildren > over the years. Kathie Biggin created fanciful little red-nosed Rudolph pins > and sold them for $2.50. Twelve-year-old Amanda Horner pooled her money with > friends, stocked up at JoAnn's fabric store, and made dozens of colorful > fleece baby blankets, which were purchased by church members and then > donated to a local hospital. > > And 87-year-old Bob Burrows rediscovered old carpentry skills and began > selling wooden bird-feeders. > > But it wasn't the money; everyone said so. It was something else, > something far less tangible but yet so very real. For seven weeks an almost > magical sense of excitement and energy and camaraderie infused the elegant > red-brick church on Bell Street, spilling over into homes and hearts as the > parable of the talents came alive. > > In her sun-filled studio on Strawberry Lane, Shirley Culbertson felt it - > a joyful sense of purpose that she had rarely experienced since her husband > passed two years ago. Culbertson, 81, is a gifted painter and watercolors > fill her house. But she discovered another talent during this time - > knitting whimsical eight-inch stuffed dolls with button noses and floppy > hats. She raised $90. > > Zooming down country roads clinging to the back of a leather-clad biker, > Florence Cross felt it too. For the challenge, Barry Biggin had parked his > 2006 Harley Davidson Road King outside the church, offering 12-mile rides > for $30. Cross was the first to sign up. Never mind that she is in her > mid-80s, had never been on a bike, or that her husband of 60 years had to > hoist her up. > > "Oh, it was such a thrill!" said Cross, her face glowing at the memory. > Her friends now call her "Harley Girl." > > Martine Scheuermann lived the parable in her Elm Street kitchen, > transforming it into an "applesauce factory" for several weeks. The > 49-year-old human resources director would rise at 6 a.m. on Sundays in > order to have warm batches ready for sampling at church services. > > In his origami-filled bedroom on Bradley Street, Paul Cantlay lived the > parable too. Surrounded by sheets of colored construction paper, the > 9-year-old crafted paper dragons and stars and sailboats. He set up an > origami stand at the end of his street, charged 50 cents to $5 depending on > the piece, and raised $68. > > Talents began multiplying at such a rate that the church held a bazaar > after services on two consecutive Sundays for people to display - and sell - > their wares. > > The pretty little village on the Chagrin River falls had never seen > anything quite like it. Everyone seemed to be talking about the talent > challenge: over the clatter of coffee cups at Dink's restaurant, at the > Fireside bookshop on the green, sipping drinks at the Gamekeeper's Taverne. > Even members of other churches weighed in: Have you heard what's happening > at Federated? > > "Anyone can open their wallet and give cash," Kris Tesar said. "This was > just an extraordinary process of exploration and discovery and of > challenging ourselves. It became bigger than any one of us or than any > individual talent." > > Tesar, a 58-year-old retired nurse, discovered her talent in buckets of > flip-flops for sale at Old Navy. She stocked up on yarn and beads and made > dozens of funky, fluffy decorative footwear that were a huge hit with teens. > Tesar raised $550 for the church, is still taking orders and is thinking of > starting a business. Now even her children call her the "flip-flop lady." > > People also got to know the "hen lady" - Gabrielle Quintin, who took to > raising chickens on a whim 23 years ago when she moved into a 180-year-old > house with a barn. Her "ladies," as Quintin calls her backyard flock, > provide a welcome distraction from her nursing job in a cancer center. > Quintin decided to put her brood to work for the church. For $10 church > members could "hire-a-hen" and get three dozen fresh eggs complete with a > photograph of the "lady" who laid them. > > "It wasn't exactly spiritual, but I had a lot of fun," said Quintin, whose > husband, Mike, made glass birdfeeders. "And it was just this great way of > bringing everyone together and connecting with the church." > > Kathy Wellman quilted. Mary Hobbs knit shawls and penciled portraits. > Cathy Hatfield auctioned a ride in her hot-air balloon. Norma and Trent > Bobbitt pooled their money with another church member to hire a harpist from > the Cleveland orchestra and host an elegant evening dinner party. Folks paid > $50 each to attend and the Bobbitts made over $1,200. > > And physician Peter Yang took over shifts from other doctors in his > partnership (he used his $50 for gas to get to the hospital) and raised > $3,000. > > The deadline to return the money was Sunday, Oct. 28. Nervously, some > church council members suggested posting plain clothes security guards at > services that day. But Throckmorton would have none of it. He insisted that > the spirit of the challenge, which had already inspired so much goodwill, > would carry them safely through. And it did. > > Organ music filled the church as people silently filed down the aisle, > dropped their proceeds into baskets, and offered testimonials about what > living the parable had meant to them. Throckmorton thanked everyone for > their generosity. Then he started counting. > > A week later he delivered the joyful news: They had more than doubled the > amount distributed. > > The initial take was $38,195 over the loan, but the amount is still > growing. Some people didn't make the deadline, or extended it in order to > finish their projects. > > The final sum will be divided equally between three charities: One-third > will go to a school library in South Africa where the church is involved in > an AIDS mission; one-third will go to micro-loan organizations that provide > seed money for small businesses in developing countries; one-third will help > the Interfaith Hospitality Network in Cleveland, specifically programs for > homeless women. > > Throckmorton is asked all the time if the talent challenge will become an > annual event, but he is doubtful. It was a special time and a special idea, > he says, and he is not sure it could be re-created or relived. > > Yet in a very real sense, it lives on. Church members who never knew each > other have become friends. And orders for applesauce, flip-flops and Rudolph > pins are still rolling in for Christmas. > > There are other, more poignant reminders. Like Ann Nagy's haunting tribute > to her father, who died of brain cancer on Oct. 11. > > Nagy, 44, has always been a singer with a clear lovely voice. It wasn't > until her father grew ill and moved into a hospice that she started writing > songs. She found solace in the music and a way of communicating that was > sometimes easier than spoken words. > > At hospice, patients are taught five simple truths to tell their loved > ones before they die: I'll miss you. I love you. I forgive you. I'm sorry. > Goodbye. > > Borrowing from that theme, Nagy wrote a farewell song for her Dad. She > pooled her $50 talent money with her husband's share and cut a CD to sell to > church members. Ironically it was finished just an hour before her father > passed, on Oct. 11. Nagy stood by his bed and sang it for him anyway. > > On Nov. 11 - her father's 72nd birthday - Throckmorton preached a sermon > about dying. He invited Nagy to the altar. There, accompanied by a cellist > and a pianist she sang "Before You Go." > > Her voice soared. The congregation wept. The parable of the talents had > never seemed so alive. > > Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP > news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise > distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All > active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL. > 2007-12-20 19:25:53 > > ------------------------------ > Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! > Search.<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51734/*http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping> >
