Stewardship is…….

Using the gifts God has given us to do the work God is calling us to do. Therefore:

?h Stewardship involves joyous acts of thanksgiving in response to all that God has given us.
?h Stewardship is about changing lives.
?h Stewardship programs should be guided by grace, not guilt.
?h We are God’s stewards. What we do grows out of our relationship with God.
?h Stewardship is fun – we are learning about God’s love

When we give, we have the opportunity to change the lives of others. When we give WE change. This powerful transformation comes from letting go and trusting God. We struggle to let go of things that we value and feel that we do not have enough of. We are influenced by the messages of fear that make us dwell on scarcity. We are challenged to change into giving people by practicing stewardship as a way of life. In these uncertain financial times, it allows us to turn to God for what we really need. In 2012, let us look at how we have changed by giving.

Stewardship is best viewed as a foundational aspect of the Christian life. We are stewards of the mysteries of God, stewards of one another, stewards of the world in which we are planted, stewards of our time and treasure and talents. The challenge before us is to move from an April 15th mentality to a December 25th perspective of gift and giving. The opportunity before us is to move from a once-a-year pledge drive to a year-round, holistic experience stewardship.

All too often we hear the word “stewardship” and think immediately of fall pledges for the church. Indeed, for many Episcopalians, October or November can feel like another April 15th! Stewardship, however, is far more than “paying church taxes” or “meeting a budget”. It is all about perceiving what we are and what we have as gifts from God to be shared with the people and the world around us, rather than as possessions to be hoarded and guarded at all costs. A wise saint once warned that when we own many possessions, the temptation is for the possessions eventually to own us.