Answering the Call to Community: Lily Claire

SMPC Note: As part of our 2026 Operating Fund Campaign, Called to Community, we are highlighting members’ experiences at SMPC as they answer the call to community of God’s mercy and love at SMPC. We’ll share video and the transcripts each week. We hope you enjoy this series, Answering the Call to Community, and consider making a pledge as we are called to be God’s beloved community through worship, connection and service. This week we are highlighting SMPC youth, Lily Claire J. The transcript of her message is below. 

Good morning! My name is Lily Claire. I’m a senior at Weddington High School, and I have grown up here at South Mecklenburg Presbyterian Church. I was baptized by Dr. Matt Brown, went through Confirmation Class here, serve on the Youth Committee as youth leader, and I am very involved and active with youth group event programming and retreats. This community has shaped my life in more ways than I can explain, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to share with you this morning as part of our stewardship campaign.

Our theme for our stewardship campaign this year is “Created for Community,” from 1 John 4:7, which says, “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” That verse has been lived out in my life through this church.

When I think about my journey of faith here, I think about youth choir / youth handbells, I think about serving on the Youth Committee and helping plan lessons and retreats, youth group nights, and mission projects—like making hundreds of sandwiches for Roof Above so our neighbors in Charlotte would know they are loved and not forgotten. I think about the Montreat Youth Conference, where I learned that my faith isn’t just something I keep to myself, but something I live out in community. I think about Confirmation, where I learned that God created us to love one another and that the church is where we learn to live that out.

This church has given me a place to grow in my faith, discover my gifts, and lead alongside my friends. I honestly can’t imagine my life without the support and love I’ve found here. And none of that would be possible without the giving of this congregation—your giving of monetary donations, yes, but also your time, your gifts, and your prayers.

Sometimes we think that unless we can give a big amount, our gift won’t matter. But that’s just not true. Even something as small as $10 can make such a difference—it might help send a youth on a retreat, provide food for a mission project, or support the music ministry that helps young people like me learn how to praise God with joy through song. Every gift matters, because every gift helps build community.

And stewardship is not just about money; rather, it’s about offering ourselves through offering our gifts, our time, our energy, our creativity, and our care and commitment to our church. Not everyone can give financially, but everyone can serve, pray, sing, mentor, or welcome someone new. This church needs all of us, in all the ways God has created us, to be a community of love. As I get ready to head off to college next year, I carry with me the love of this church. I know that whatever community I find myself in, God calls me to share that same love and to help create spaces where people feel welcomed and belong. That’s what our church family has taught me, and it’s why I believe so deeply in giving back to the church.

So today, I want to encourage you: give what you can, in whatever way you can. Whether it’s $10, a Sunday volunteering with youth, joining in a mission project or service opportunity at our church, or lifting a prayer for someone in need, your gift matters. Together, we are created for community, and together, we reflect God’s love to the world. Thank you.