Stewardship is the act of deciding how to use all that we have in order to care for the world and the people that God has created. In the Episcopal Church, we often talk about stewardship in terms of three things: time, talent, and treasure. So when we talk about stewardship, we talk about how we spend our time and whether we may need to shift where we are putting our energies; what our gifts are, and whether we can use them in new ways to help others or the world around us; and how we are using our financial resources, and whether we are supporting the things we care about most.
And even though stewardship encompasses much of our lives, we often think of stewardship purely in terms of pledging—deciding how much financial support we will offer the church in the upcoming year. However, I hope that this year we approach stewardship in a more holistic way. How has God blessed us in our lives? How can we use our time, talent, and treasure to be a blessing to others, not just when it comes to our church and our St. Thomas family, but in all aspects of our lives? How can we use all that we have in order to fully live into our identities as followers of Christ, and to glorify God—even in these difficult and unprecedented times in which we find ourselves?
We will each soon receive information about our stewardship campaign for 2021, and part of that will include a request to carefully and prayerfully consider how we wish to support St. Thomas in the upcoming year. Let us take this as an opportunity to begin faithfully contemplating our own stewardship, and how we might be a blessing to others.
Peace,
Megan
P.S. If you are in need of financial assistance, please let me know—the church can help!