Rev. Jill Duffield
Senior Pastor
It is the most wonderful time of the church year: Stewardship season! The truth is there is no such thing as stewardship season, not really, because the entirety of life is stewardship season. Everything we have comes from God, every breath, every moment, every talent, every resource. It just happens that in the Fall we name this truth, and we ask you to make a commitment to Christ’s church so the gospel can be proclaimed in word and deed. This year our theme is “Sharing Good Fruit” and we’ve been blessed to have members speak about how the ministries of our church matter and make an impact both personally and in the community.
If you’ve missed one or more of these heartfelt testimonies, I’d invite you to watch the recordings of them. You can find them right after the announcements beginning on October 2.* They will inspire you!
I would also encourage you to consider what you would say if you were asked to speak about the importance and impact of the Church and of this church. What’s your stewardship story? What do you do with your resources and why? How are you sharing “good fruit” like kindness, gentleness and joy? That’s the real crux of stewardship, not how much money you give, but how you respond to God’s grace with your entire being, your life, your all. Stewardship, like worship, is more of an orientation than an activity.
David W. Johnson says that “Giving and stewardship are enacted prayers.” He writes, “the spiritual discipline of giving and stewardship requires a certain amount of honest discernment. Some of our material resources are necessary to maintain our live and the lives of those who depend on us. Some of our resources are set aside in order to safeguard our futures. Some of our resources are doubtless devoted to comfort, convenience, and pleasure rather than sheer survival. Some of our resources are to be shared. How much?”
Prayerfully answering that two-word question is why this is the most wonderful time of the year because in this discernment we begin to realize that our cups overflow with God’s grace, goodness, mercy and, most of all, love. We begin, in the words of Donald McKim, to “breath in grace” and “breathe out gratitude.” Then we don’t calculate an amount to give, we seek to live a life reflective of a priceless gift.
* — “Celebrating Our Ministries” began on September 25 with Bill Jacobs speaking about our Pastoral Care ministries; however, we were unable to capture this on video because of technical issues, so October 2 is the first recording available with these testimonies.
