...stewardship is no longer just another word for fund-raising in the church. Stewardship is nothing less than our complete lifestyle. It is our total response and accountability before the Lord, one component of which giving money for work of our Lord through the parish life of the church. Stewardship is what we do after we say, "I believe."
- John C. Rettew, "Stewardship; Why We Give"
Deacon Zach has been giving special attention to our tracks (informational pamphlets) in the narthex (entrance hall). He's found wonderful and informing writings on Anglican faith and formation, how our tradition dialogues with Roman Catholicism, and, in a particularly timely fashion, what is stewardship and how to we participate in it.
John Rettew forked for years as the Controller of the Diocese of Pennsylvania and developed successful approaches toward stewards ship. In his track on stewardship, he places stewardship in the same practical place as worship. Just as we gather together as family and friends each Sunday to share our stories of faith, to welcome newcomers into our midst, and to offer our love and support to each other in relationship, we also, each week, give of the gifts given to us.
We have been given, in our abundance and in our meagerness, and from whatever we have we offer a portion to God in return. We offer our talents and skills, coming from God and developed through our own industry. We find we pray: we offer our talent to pray for the church as intercessors. We find that we can share stories: we offer our talent as lectors. We find we prepare: we offer our talent to set and clear the altar. From wherever our talents come, we bring those talents into our worship.
We have also been given industry and income, and we offer a portion of that income to the church in order to help assure our weekly gathering (our leadership, our building, our resources), and to do the work of the church in our community (our almsgiving, our programming, our guests and neighbors).
In order to help plan for the year to come, we invite all who share in our worship and ministry to look at the year to come and make a commitment to our life together, in sharing our talents and sharing in our expenses. And we each give according to our abilities - no amount is too small or too large, and there is no redundancy in our ministries.
Whatever you have, you are invited to share - and in return, rejoice in knowing that you are participating in the good work which we have all been given to do.
Peace in Christ,
Fr. Shawn
Vicar, St. Mary's/Lawrence Park
- John C. Rettew, "Stewardship; Why We Give"
Deacon Zach has been giving special attention to our tracks (informational pamphlets) in the narthex (entrance hall). He's found wonderful and informing writings on Anglican faith and formation, how our tradition dialogues with Roman Catholicism, and, in a particularly timely fashion, what is stewardship and how to we participate in it.
John Rettew forked for years as the Controller of the Diocese of Pennsylvania and developed successful approaches toward stewards ship. In his track on stewardship, he places stewardship in the same practical place as worship. Just as we gather together as family and friends each Sunday to share our stories of faith, to welcome newcomers into our midst, and to offer our love and support to each other in relationship, we also, each week, give of the gifts given to us.
We have been given, in our abundance and in our meagerness, and from whatever we have we offer a portion to God in return. We offer our talents and skills, coming from God and developed through our own industry. We find we pray: we offer our talent to pray for the church as intercessors. We find that we can share stories: we offer our talent as lectors. We find we prepare: we offer our talent to set and clear the altar. From wherever our talents come, we bring those talents into our worship.
We have also been given industry and income, and we offer a portion of that income to the church in order to help assure our weekly gathering (our leadership, our building, our resources), and to do the work of the church in our community (our almsgiving, our programming, our guests and neighbors).
In order to help plan for the year to come, we invite all who share in our worship and ministry to look at the year to come and make a commitment to our life together, in sharing our talents and sharing in our expenses. And we each give according to our abilities - no amount is too small or too large, and there is no redundancy in our ministries.
Whatever you have, you are invited to share - and in return, rejoice in knowing that you are participating in the good work which we have all been given to do.
Peace in Christ,
Fr. Shawn
Vicar, St. Mary's/Lawrence Park
