2026 Generosity Campaign:
Be hopeful.
Be generous.
Be amazed.
About our theme: Be hopeful. Be generous. Be Amazed.
It’s easy to be discouraged these days. Our world is increasingly divided. We are encouraged to believe that food, shelter, and love are scarce. But Jesus calls us to a different way. As people of faith we choose to be hopeful. We choose to be generous. We choose to believe that a better, more just world is possible.
By practicing generosity we discover that God’s world is anything but scarce. There is more than enough to go around. When we find the courage to share - of our time, of our attention, of our resources - we will be amazed by what God’s abundance can do.
Laura Crow, MCC’s biggest Bears Fan, committed to shaving a Green Bay logo on the back of her head if MCC could surpass their original goal and raise 4,000 pounds in just one month!
The Math of Generosity
Practicing generosity is a lesson in multiplication - a lesson the MCC community takes to heart! In September, WayForward Resources challenged their supporters to collect 25,000 pounds of food during Hunger Action Month. MCC committed to collecting 10% of that - 2,500 pounds.
Once the challenge was set, the challenge quickly grew - even the scouting groups who meet in our building brought donations.
With a little encouragement and healthy Green Bay-Chicago rivalry, MCC stepped up to the plate and DOUBLED their goal, collecting nearly 5,000 pounds of food and hygiene products for our neighbors.
Imagine. One ask from our partners at WayForward Resources sparked a whole month of miraculous giving. One donation barrel was filled to overflowing.
By making an annual pledge, or becoming a sustaining giver, you join a group of generous hearts who fund the day-to-day operations of Middleton Community UCC. Together, we’re faithfully creating places of love and belonging for our neighbors through passionate worship, meaningful relationships, and an invitation to live lives of service. We do all of this because we believe that when God’s beloved community is strengthened a more just and generous world is possible.
Please consider becoming a financial supporter of MCC’s mission today. If you already support MCC, thank you! Please consider increasing your pledge or sustaining gift by 5% to help us reach our ministry goals during this season of growth.
The story of Jesus feeding a large crowd with just a small gift of bread and fish shows up six times throughout our four gospels - it’s that important. In Matthew’s version, we’re told it is a young boy who, with a hope-filled heart, offers up the initial meager meal: just two loaves and five fish. Over the years Christians have pondered when the miracle shows up - did Jesus multiply the bread and fish with his own hands? Or was the crowd so inspired by the generosity of Jesus and this hopeful young boy that they, too, pulled out what they had brought? When everyone chose to share there was more than enough to go around.
How the miracle happened doesn’t really matter as much as that it happened. One small act of generosity led to another led to another led to something amazing. That’s what happens when we open our hearts to the generosity of God.
As MCC moves into 2026 we’re empowered to share the amazing love of God through thousands of gifts of every size made by individuals just like you. Some people make an annual pledge, purposely setting aside a portion of what they have to be shared with the community. Others have set up recurring gifts, commitments that carry our work from one season to the next. Still others give when they can, sharing or responding to needs as they arise throughout the year. And every gift adds to the multitudes.
In 2026 MCC will be fully integrating a new Communications Specialist. This is the last step in growing our staff as outlined in the Sustainable Growth Plan adopted in 2024. Their primary responsibility will be to tell the story of MCC within our community and beyond. They will help us to generously share our inclusive message of God’s love and belonging with our neighbors. Our budget continues to be bolstered by generous gifts to the Next Step Fund, carrying us through this season of growth.
Be hopeful. We’re in this work together.
Be generous. Your gifts make a difference.
Be amazed.
THANK YOU for all the ways you support MCC’s mission to be a place of Love and Belonging for our neighbors
as we build a more just and generous world for All God’s People.
“Deb and I make our decisions about church giving together and have always come from a mindset of abundance. We have increased our pledge every year because of that mindset and we have never regretted our investment in the life of our church. It’s an investment where the return lies in touching the lives of young and older people, the poor, the imprisoned, the hungry and lets all of them know they are not alone and are beloved.”
Our 2026 Goal is to increase MCC’s generosity by 5%. We’re measuring this in two ways:
1. Add a total of 6 new individual Pledges or Sustaining Givers within the MCC community - moving from 114 to 120 households.
2. Increase total operational giving by 5% to $503,685 in 2026.