Stewardship Message: "The Creator Doesn't Need Our Money, But..."

Good morning. Besides singing with the choir, I work with EfM, and I’m clerk of the Vestry. That means I take notes while others explore options and make hard decisions. That means I have all the fun with none of the responsibility.

But when I was a voting member of the Vestry, I would wake in the night worried because pledges came in so slowly. We saw needs and we saw opportunities, but without pledges to make the budget, our hands were tied. Worse, we had to contemplate cutting programs and staff. This happened every year that I was on the Vestry, and it has happened every year since. We’ve always made it, but it has always been a close call.

When I became Senior Warden, I read books on stewardship. They offered nothing that I didn’t already see here.

[PHOTO: The view from the lectern at evening. Photo by Susan Rouse, 2018.]

Then, doing research for EfM, I ran across a great stewardship message from the days of Queen Elizabeth (the First). For a pledge drive in 1599, Richard Hooker preached that “the Creator of Heaven and Earth does not need our money. Rather, it is we who need to give it.”

That message resonated with me, because of something a counselor said when I was just out of college and he was helping me to find my way. I was working a minimum wage job, and one hour with him cost as much as rent. But when I told him that I would ask Mom and Dad to foot the bill, he said no. He explained that money does more than pay for a product or service; money is a symbol. It expresses our values. He said that, unless I paid to the limit of my ability, I would not be committed to our work. He cut his fee in half so that what I gave would be mine, and would mean a lot to me.

Likewise at St. James Church. The more I’ve given, the more deeply I’ve felt invested in the ministries of the church, even the ones that don’t involve me.

For the sake of maintaining this campus, our staff, worship, music, education, and our ministry of hospitality;

for the sake of the youth and families, couples and singles, retired people and those beyond our walls that we want to draw in;

for the sake of our own faith and personal connection to the Body of Christ; and

for the sake of our Vestry’s getting a good night's sleep,

Pledge to the limit of your ability, and pledge now.