We all have an approach to stewardship now. Here are a few that I have come across: Bill paying, Gratitude, Have to do it (duty), Pay the bills of the church, Tithe, Proportional giving, Guilt, After everything else is paid. We all, whether we do it consciously or not, have an approach to our personal giving to God’s work through the Church.

There are some that truly give out of faith and are either tithing or have a real plan to tithe (proportional giving) of their income in thanks for all God has given us. There are others that give out of guilt as a result of stewardship campaigns or some form of reminding us that stewardship is a must in each our lives. We also have those who are committed to seeing that the Church meets its budget and pays its bills. Lastly, we have those that figure out their budget including the vacation and other things and then give what is left to God’s work. These are all generalizations and no fingers are pointed at any one, but instead illustrations of how we tend to look at our personal stewardship.

As we approach the time for each of us to commit our monies to the work of God in thanks for His generosity in our lives, we should be aware of our personal approach to stewardship.

Why do I bring all this up at all? Over the past few years we have suspended our outreach stewardship much to the Vestry’s sorrow in order to pay our bills and support our staff (this is known as focusing on “bricks and mortar”). We believe through each of ours efforts and examination of our individual stewardship we once again can approach the goal where we were able to tithe of the parish income to the work of the Church outside of our own support inside the buildings. The scriptures challenge us as a parish family to “feed and cloth the poor and hungry”. This is a corporate work for all of us to participate in as a result of our stewardship. We are no longer wandering in the desert, now is the time to refocus on what God wants us to do with our giving (tithes and other giving) for His glory, in thanks.

I would be remiss in talking about stewardship in not asking each of us (tithing or not) to commit to a path of increasing our thank you giving to God’s work through St. Andrew’s Anglican Church. What is your vision for St. Andrew’s stewardship in this world? Hopefully part of that vision is that we spread God’s word and we as a parish become much more than we are now.

Please pray about your vision for St. Andrew’s Church and do your part to make that vision come to pass. More to come next week……….

Faithfully,

Bill Ritter Jr. Warden and Finance Committee Chair