By Al Curry, Member of Diocese of Texas Stewardship Commission and St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church, Nassau Bay
“Pick up your cross and follow me”; what do we suppose Jesus meant by that statement? Sometimes statements are made that we hear but pay little attention to until later. Somewhere in the back of our heads, or our subconscious, the phrase or concept continues to pop up in our conscious thought process.
It is like the first time you hear “do you know the difference between joy and happiness?”. After these little phrases pop into our conscious thought process enough and if one is of Christian Faith (you know someone who spends time reading the Bible, praying, listening to God, trying to discern what God is calling him/her to do and can define Stewardship as a concept beyond money) then we usually end up in a search for a revelation or real understanding of the phrase.
At the service the Sunday before Easter Sunday, Father Bill Hyde quoted one of those little statements in his sermon that landed in my subconscious and kept popping up, sent me searching for a fuller understanding. He quoted from a book written by Michael Slaughter written in 1994, Beyond Playing Church. The quote was as follows:
“I simply argue that the Cross should be raised at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I (want to) recover the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles; but on a cross between two thieves; on the town’s garbage heap; at a crossroads so cosmopolitan they had to write His title in Hebrew and Latin and Greek…at the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse and soldiers gamble. Because that is where He died. And that is what He died about. That is where the people of the Church ought to be and that is what the people of the Church ought to be about.”
When we have discussed Stewardship at St. Thomas’ Nassau Bay we have discussed a variety of definitions, but they all have in common listening to God’s calling, understanding what Jesus was sent here to accomplish and picking up our cross and following in Jesus’ foot steps. Saving souls, sharing love, transforming lives or everything we do and say after we say I do in the Baptismal Covenant, or Stewardship is everything we do with all we have been given, whatever your definition the paragraph above says a lot Stewardship.
What it says is, while we need to read and understand what Jesus was sent here to do, we are to follow in His foot steps and do the things Jesus has taught us to do. What we are looking for we will not find in books, it is that inner feeling of spiritual Joy and inner Peace you get when we are out doing God’s work.
In John Chapter 13 versus 13-17:
“You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet.
For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.
Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”
Here at St. Thomas’ Nassau Bay there are a lot of opportunities to get involved in doing God’s work. We are all encouraged to get involved in these opportunities and feel the spiritual Joy and inner Peace that comes from doing God’s work. The following is a partial list of Ministries here at our church and lest we forget, we are not volunteering, we are doing Ministry, and we are doing what God has called us to do:
+ + +
We are all encouraged to spend time in quite reflection and prayer, listening to what God is calling us to do and then engage yourself in some of God’s Ministries, raise your cross at the center of the marketplace, feel the spiritual joy and rejoice in God’s work.
Stewardship for the Congregation: The Basics
1. Make the decision to switch the emphasis on money and budgets to helping persons gain insight and commitment to understanding the theology of stewardship, its place in their spiritual formation and their church community.
Some components of this theology:
+ Scriptural references
+ Tithing is the biblical minimum when referring to the stewardship of material possessions
+ Emphasis on God’s abundance vs. scarcity
+ Everything is from God, we are called to be stewards of all God has entrusted to our care
+ Stewardship is holistic in the context of a congregation which includes:
* Thoughtful stewardship of persons who are a part of this community includes knowing them, the gifts and talents they bring into the congregation, and their empowerment for ministry
* Environmental stewardship of the physical plant and surroundings
* Faithful, honest and trustworthy practices when it comes to financial oversight
* Prayerful, discerning leadership around decisions to set budgets and spend money
* Spiritual development of the stewardship of time for individuals and the congregation
* A theological perspective of being stewards of the "other"
2. Putting people with gifts and passion for stewardship together, empowering them to be integral in the design and implementation of programs and activities that will foster good stewardship practices and understanding in a congregation.
Often this means the formation of a stewardship ministry team apart from the finance ministry team or vestry but may include a few members of either group who have a passion/giftedness for stewardship. It is not unusual to find persons who tithe from their income that truly understand the theology of stewardship who want to be a part of an organized effort for responsible Christian stewardship. This group’s motivation is a theological one.
They work with the rector and/or the vestry to approve program design and plans for the congregation. A stewardship ministry team could be large enough to have sub groups if needed to address specific aspects of congregational stewardship. This ministry team should meet year round and have a distinct, clear charge and mutually understood objective. These meetings are to help foster development of all areas of Christian stewardship, not only the annual pledge campaign.
3. The growth of healthy stewardship in a congregation takes intentionality, risk taking, creativity, trust and commitment on the part of the leaders of a congregation.
All leaders model for others behaviors that are desired in the community. Leaders must be visibly engaged through liturgical practices, witness, commitment of time, giftedness, treasure, other assets, and must “walk the talk”. If the leaders aren’t committed to living out the theology of stewardship, others will not follow. “The leaders” include everyone in leadership in the congregation: clergy, staff who are members, vestry, leaders of ministries and stewardship leaders.
4. The leaders of the stewardship efforts must understand the organic and relational nature of congregations. Regular assessment of stewardship efforts, having an openness to change in order to maximize effectiveness, and building in relational and spiritual aspects to stewardship efforts are keys to increasing the commitment to it.
Change in practices can be unsettling but are often necessary to move a congregation forward. Congregations are subtly but constantly changing. The stewardship efforts must be responsive to these changes yet sensitive to the culture of the group. The handling of finances is inherently conservative. Healthy monetary stewardship practices demonstrate fiscal responsibility coupled with faithful response to God’s mission (purpose) and vision for the congregation.
Submitted by Mary M. MacGregor
Director of Leadership Development
The Episcopal Diocese of Texas
Some components of this theology:
+ Scriptural references
+ Tithing is the biblical minimum when referring to the stewardship of material possessions
+ Emphasis on God’s abundance vs. scarcity
+ Everything is from God, we are called to be stewards of all God has entrusted to our care
+ Stewardship is holistic in the context of a congregation which includes:
* Thoughtful stewardship of persons who are a part of this community includes knowing them, the gifts and talents they bring into the congregation, and their empowerment for ministry
* Environmental stewardship of the physical plant and surroundings
* Faithful, honest and trustworthy practices when it comes to financial oversight
* Prayerful, discerning leadership around decisions to set budgets and spend money
* Spiritual development of the stewardship of time for individuals and the congregation
* A theological perspective of being stewards of the "other"
2. Putting people with gifts and passion for stewardship together, empowering them to be integral in the design and implementation of programs and activities that will foster good stewardship practices and understanding in a congregation.
Often this means the formation of a stewardship ministry team apart from the finance ministry team or vestry but may include a few members of either group who have a passion/giftedness for stewardship. It is not unusual to find persons who tithe from their income that truly understand the theology of stewardship who want to be a part of an organized effort for responsible Christian stewardship. This group’s motivation is a theological one.
They work with the rector and/or the vestry to approve program design and plans for the congregation. A stewardship ministry team could be large enough to have sub groups if needed to address specific aspects of congregational stewardship. This ministry team should meet year round and have a distinct, clear charge and mutually understood objective. These meetings are to help foster development of all areas of Christian stewardship, not only the annual pledge campaign.
3. The growth of healthy stewardship in a congregation takes intentionality, risk taking, creativity, trust and commitment on the part of the leaders of a congregation.
All leaders model for others behaviors that are desired in the community. Leaders must be visibly engaged through liturgical practices, witness, commitment of time, giftedness, treasure, other assets, and must “walk the talk”. If the leaders aren’t committed to living out the theology of stewardship, others will not follow. “The leaders” include everyone in leadership in the congregation: clergy, staff who are members, vestry, leaders of ministries and stewardship leaders.
4. The leaders of the stewardship efforts must understand the organic and relational nature of congregations. Regular assessment of stewardship efforts, having an openness to change in order to maximize effectiveness, and building in relational and spiritual aspects to stewardship efforts are keys to increasing the commitment to it.
Change in practices can be unsettling but are often necessary to move a congregation forward. Congregations are subtly but constantly changing. The stewardship efforts must be responsive to these changes yet sensitive to the culture of the group. The handling of finances is inherently conservative. Healthy monetary stewardship practices demonstrate fiscal responsibility coupled with faithful response to God’s mission (purpose) and vision for the congregation.
Submitted by Mary M. MacGregor
Director of Leadership Development
The Episcopal Diocese of Texas
Articles on Various Aspects of our Stewardship Ministry
"Stewardship is not a choice. The choice is whether or not we will be good stewards or poor stewards."
- The Rev. P. Lance Ousley
- The Rev. P. Lance Ousley
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