Youth Column: God and Money

Wednesday April 1 2020

Alan Boyd, a young elder and stewardship convener, shares his faith journey and highlights the importance of giving to the Church.

As a baby I was baptised in Kirkton Church, Carluke but my family was born and bred in Lanark and so was I.

My parents moved back to Lanark when I was one year old, and ever since then I have been raised with Greyfriars, or Cairns as it was back then, firmly at the centre of our family.

I grew up through all the Sunday Schools, my teachers being the teachers that are still there today (it’s hard to believe they’re that old!). Before I left the house my mum would always give me my £1 coin to put in the Sunday School collection bag when it came round at the start of class.

Before my 16th birthday my mum told me that I could make all my own choices in life but the one thing she wanted me to do was join the church. I acknowledged this and after my birthday we paid the minister a visit. In October 2007 I received my Certificate of Admission to Holy Communion… I was a “member of the church.”

Time went on and I dedicated myself to the work of the church. I became older and wiser, and sometimes found a grey hair or two! As time went on, I was asked to consider becoming an Elder. I was ordained in 2014. The grey hairs continued to appear.

Then at a Kirk Session meeting, in the midst of a financial crisis in August 2018, I gave a small speech as to what the church meant to me. Then came the question, in that tone where you just can’t say no: “Will you head up our Stewardship initiative?”

“But I’m only 27, I’m way out of my depth here, I can’t do this!” I said to myself as I left the church counting what few black hairs I had left on my head.

But then I said to myself: “This means I need to ask people for money, but I don’t give any money to the church.” The feeling of hypocrisy and sudden insignificance was overwhelming. The following week, after payday, I reviewed what I had left after I’d paid all my dues and bills. “There’s enough there to give to the church,” I told myself.

The laptop came out and I logged on to my online banking and I gave to the church. I gave money to the church. Not time or talents. Money! The feeling that came over me was weird. I felt like I had genuinely made a difference, that what I’m giving to the church however small would still help them, as it’s one more person giving than they had yesterday. My feelings of hypocrisy and insignificance completely disappeared, and I was left feeling almost refreshed. I felt closer to God. I don’t know what renewing wedding vows feels like, but I can now imagine, as I felt like I’d renewed my membership and commitment to God and his church.

I imagine we all feel different distances from God. Life throws up challenges that will make this distance fade, but also grow. We must always have faith not just in God, but in ourselves.

“Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12

If you are under 30 and involved in the Church of Scotland and would be interested in writing for this column, please email us on magazine@lifeandwork.org

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