The Case of the Call to Stewardship 


God plays a joke on Jim. 

I have copied directly the talk that I gave at church this morning in support of our stewardship campaign.

Talk for Stewardship
Trinity Episcopal Church, St. Louis
November 9, 2008

I’m Jim Andris, and I’ve been asked to say a few words today about our stewardship campaign, and I am glad to do this for Trinity. I’ve been around here with my partner, Stephen Nichols, for 22 stewardship campaigns, so I guess I am qualified to speak on this matter.

First and foremost, I think we have to keep in mind what Rev. Anne Kelsey has occasionally been telling us, that the best reason of all for giving of our time, talents and treasure is that we understand and appreciate that our church is doing God’s work in this world, and that we want to pitch in and do our share. Well, sure, this is good advice, but it falls a little short of helping us to decide whether, how often and when to attend church, what worship services, programs and committee work to support, and how much of ourselves to commit. Deciding how we shall marshal our time, talents, and treasure in support of the church of our choice is very personal and for some, quite challenging. But regardless of what we end up deciding in this regard, it is the process of making this decision which is itself a wonderful opportunity.

Over the 22 years that I have been here, I have tried my hand at many of the opportunities for work, worship and fun at Trinity, including two turns on the vestry and usher, sacristy and altar service. Each time I took on a new task, I found that it enriched and deepened my life in obvious and subtle ways. Stephen has long sung in the choir. Our household has also submitted a pledge card for each year we have been here, and I am proud to say that, with God’s help, we have kept our pledges.

And now I am going to tell on myself. I don’t have to remind you that our economy is in terrible shape. In addition to that, our household has had a significant decrease in joint income in the last year. After much debate, I had decided that THIS year, we would simply have to decrease our pledge to Trinity, and I would explain as best I could. But . . . before making that final decision, I asked God in prayer if there were any reason that I should keep my pledge the same, I would be shown. The next day, Martha Bradley asked me to speak to you about stewardship. I got the joke, God, and we are not decreasing our pledge this year. Praise be to God.  

Posted: Sun - November 9, 2008 at 04:02 PM          

©