Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter;
whoever finds one has found a treasure.
Faithful friends are beyond price;
no amount can balance their worth.
Faithful friends are life-saving medicine;
and those who fear the Lord will find them. Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 6:14-16
So there’s a joke going around the internet that has my husband in stitches. You take a famous line from a movie and add a phrase – and the phrase is, “due to the pandemic.” Imagine Dorothy clicking the heels of her ruby slippers and murmuring, “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home – due to the pandemic.” (Yes, this is the kind of thing that tickles his funnybone. I knew this when I married him.)
The grain of truth in the joke is what makes it funny. We see things in a new light – due to the pandemic.
One of the things we see in that new light is just how precious our friends really are. I’ve missed seeing my pals in person (due to the pandemic), but I think that makes me cherish them all the more. Have you found the same thing? Even a virtual get-together with these faithful friends does my heart a world of good.
Faithful friends are a treasure
As the Scripture above says, faithful friends are a treasure, and I thank God for them every day.
Women of the ELCA as an organization has faithful friends, too. Our Faithful Friends are even more precious due to the pandemic (and that’s no joke). Because so many of us are not gathering in our circles and at our events these days, the offerings we would have made just aren’t happening. But WELCA’s Faithful Friends, just like our own in-person faithful friends, are life-savers, just as the Scripture says.
When you join Faithful Friends, you choose the amount you’d like to give every month, and that amount is automatically charged to your credit card or bank account. It’s easy and safe for you, and incredibly powerful for the organization we all love.
The monthly offerings made through Faithful Friends support the ongoing ministries of the churchwide women’s organization, just like any undesignated gift. These ongoing ministries include our racial justice and advocacy programs, our online and print communications channels, and so much more – including the virtual gatherings we’re planning for in September.
Our own faithful friends refresh and renew our spirits, pandemic or no pandemic. Women of the ELCA’s Faithful Friends do the same for our organization. Please join Faithful Friends today and invite a friend to join along with you. It’ll do your heart a world of good. Thank you.
Here’s how:
Go to www.welca.org/faithfulfriendsonline to learn more and to get started right away. Choose the amount you’d like to give, fill in your information, and then click the CAPTCHA button to prove you’re not a robot. And then (last step!) click the Donate Now button. It’s incredibly easy and incredibly powerful. Thank you!
Audrey Novak Riley is director for stewardship for Women of the ELCA.