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ADOPTING CHRISTIAN STEWARDSHIP
Parish Council, unanimously adopted the Christian Stewardship
Program, for supporting the work of Christ at Dormition of the
Theotokos. The purpose of this article is to introduce you to the
concept.
What is Stewardship? Stewardship comes from the Greek word "oikonomia",
or economy, which means management of the house or household. In
the New Testament, it means man's management of his whole life in
response to God's love.
Man is a steward, a manager of the "time", "talents" and
"treasures" that God has given to him. God as Creator gives us
time by granting us life, our very existence. God as Giver of all
gifts, grants us our abilities and talents. God as Maintainer,
provides for our needs by affording us opportunities to earn a
living.
If I believe that God is the Giver, the Owner and I the manager,
then it follows that a Steward trusts the Bible's directions on
how to manage God's gifts. God expects us to give Him thanks by
managing our gifts of "time", "talent" and "treasure" according
to His will.
In 2 Corinthians 8:3-5 St. Paul writes: "they gave according to
their means as I can testify and beyond their means, of their own
free will...but first they gave of themselves to the Lord and to
us by the will of God."
The essence of Stewardship is that we first give ourselves to God
and then seek to do His will as his servants. Unless our hearts
are in Christ, then we will find it difficult to do His will. We
can only become His servants, by accepting His lordship over our
lives.
We can give our "time" to the Lord by our daily devotion, reading
his Word, by attending Church services and by assisting others in
need. We can use our "talents' in response to God's love by
serving God as a Sunday School teacher, a Choir member, a Parish
Councilman, a Philoptochos member, by cooking, cleaning and
responding to the call of service to others.
We use our "treasures", our income, God's gift to us to glorify
his name. A percentage of our income, according to the Bible, is
to be used for the work of God on earth. By sharing our
"treasures" with the Lord, we become co-workers with Him in His
work of salvation.
Stewardship, as the management of God's gifts to us, is the method
by which Christians should support their Church. We are to return
a portion of what God has given to us back again to God. The
parish obligation or dues system limits our giving,
because it has a fixed fee.
Stewardship is used by 80% of the parishes of the American
Archdiocese, with overwhelming responses. We will be the first
parish in Canada to adopt this program! Proportional giving is
much more equitable, for each person gives according to his or her
means. Those who receive more may give more and those who receive
less may give less and still be active parishioners of the
Church. The decision of "how much" to give rests with the
individual's conscience and love for God.
Stewardship has been the Christian or Biblical method of Church
support through the centuries. At our next General Meeting you
will be asked to endorse the Parish Council's recommendation to
adopt the Christian Stewardship program for our parish, initially
as a volunteer basis. Further information will be provided before
the meeting in order to inform you of more details concerning the
program.
Stewardship is putting our faith into action. Stewardship is
bringing Christ into our entire life, including our finances.
Through our Stewardship pledge, we will support the programs of
our parish, our local Kingston community and our Metropolis
National Ministries.
Stewardship provides us with the opportunity to contribute on a
monthly and even weekly basis, thus making it easier to increase
our capability of giving. If Stewardship has succeeded throughout
the American Archdiocese, we are confident that it will succeed at
our parish, because "Christ is among us" at Dormition of the
Theotokos. Our love for Christ and His Church will find expression
in our free will, proportionate giving to our parish.
Stewardship is a matter of our personal faith in God and He keeps
his promises. Listen to what St. Paul writes: "He who sows
sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully
will also reap bountifully. Each one must do as he has made up his
mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a
cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing
in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and
may provide in abundance for every good work" (2 Corinthians
9:6-8).
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