Letter from Greg, January 10, 2026
Dear Members, Friends, and Guests,
It's a wonderful privilege to welcome you to Hollywood Adventist Church today!
Last week we dipped our toes into the world of ritual, recognizing the power these repeated practices, remembrances, memorializations, and intentions have in shaping our thinking, emotions, ability to engage self in gentle but productive ways toward transformation. Specifically, we discussed the acts of worship, foot washing, the symbolic feast of the communion table and the real feast of the shared and common café table. While there's so much more to be said about all of this, it was a good antidote to the set-up so many of us have experienced the tradition of new years' resolutions to be.
We also noted that it's important in our time that we all need to steward, guide and preserve our energies for all that lies before us, all the unknowns ahead. It isn't that our journeys of grace don't require energy and action, our journeys which inevitably lead to change that cumulatively amounts to transformation...they do! But rituals can focus us.
I'm thinking now of giving. Giving is a discipline, a practice, an art, a philanthropic exercise, a nod toward that which we believe, or whom we wish to show support to. It's an act of worship, which is why and how the tradition of applause when "offering time" is announced at Hollywood came to be. It's not a moment of, "Okay!... so just another example of the way in which churches are really all about money." It's a moment of grace, where we fulfill God's command to bring the tithes to the storehouse, and test His promises to provide in our giving beyond that.
Giving ought to be routine and regular, if not ritualized. It's a tremendous opportunity in uncertain times to express our faith. It's a moment of felt gratitude in times of abundance. The giving of our tithes (primarily), our offerings (secondarily), and our directed gifts is not a matter of "if we can afford it." Everyone can give some amount. And of course there's the gift of time and talent too.
Our worldwide church, local conference/region, and local church are all strengthened in faithfulness—as are the faithful. Today is an invitation to growth. Today is an invitation to transformation. Today is an invitation to support this place, this structure, our staff and pastoral presence through the discipline, routine, and yes, even the transforming ritual of giving. Let's make 2026 a year where we've successfully supported the ministries that support and sustain us all.
Thank you!
Pastor Greg