Together on the Journey: A Weekly Blog from Fr. Andrew Sheldon
As you may be aware, we at St George’s are entering into our Intention Appeal. As such, we are asking you to consider your financial contribution to St George’s for 2025. This past Sunday, I kicked off our appeal with a sermon that touched on Christian financial stewardship and thought I would expand on that in my blog by revisiting something I wrote many years ago.
On Christian Financial Stewardship
When it comes to Christian financial stewardship, I find that there are often many misconceptions about what we are doing. And I confess that we as church are not always aware of what is at the heart of Christian stewardship, and we as leaders are not always good at communicating that. So perhaps a good place to start is by talking about what Christian stewardship is not.
It is not fundraising.
Now I grant you that the church does ask for ‘funds’ and that people do respond. But fundraising typically is conducted on an as-needed basis with a specific dollar goal, while stewardship is the on-going process of funding the ministry of the church by providing for the annual operating costs of that ministry. Furthermore, fundraising assumes that the church has needs it must raise funds for, whereas stewardship assumes that the Christian individual has a need to give to support God’s mission, and must therefore find ministry to support. And that is the crucial starting point. It’s about the individual. Giving is good for you. God so loved the world that he gave. Jesus made his ministry one of service, one of giving, indeed, giving his own life. As such, we are never so much like God in Christ as when we give. And therefore, are never so much fully human as when we give. To think it is essentially about the church and its needs can lead to the next misconception.
It is not a transaction.
Christians do not strictly give on the basis of what they think they are getting. As one writer puts it, “Church members have changed from stewards to consumers. People are not returning a portion of their incomes to God. Rather, they are paying for services rendered by the church.” Church is neither the supermarket nor the symphony. We are not meant to give on the basis of the aesthetic value of the liturgy, or the quality of the programming available to our children. True giving, rather, has no expectation of receiving, nothing other than the joy that accompanies that kind of giving.
It is not time, talent, or treasure.
It is time, talent, and treasure. Christian stewardship is all of the above. Now I know that given your particular situation you may have more to give of one of these categories, but our stewardship must always include our treasure.
Clearly, then, by turning these misconceptions on their head we can get some kind of an idea of what Christian stewardship is.
It is generous.
There is lavishness in God’s love towards us that must be reflected in our own commitments. We know from scripture that God’s mercy and compassion knows no bounds. We know from our own context that we are an extremely fortunate people. Whether in church or out, we are surrounded by abundance. Jesus gets the last word on this one: “To whom much is given, much is expected.”
It is proportional.
It is a biblical principle that what we give is determined by the extent of our income. As such, we will not all give the same amount, but ideally we will all give the same proportion. The ancient Israelis gave a tithe of 10%. Although Jesus doesn’t put a figure on it, he seems to be affirming the concept by praising the widow who gave a mite. We at St George’s have encouraged a starting point of 2.5% of all income as a goal for giving to the church. Of course, many people give to many other worthy causes and thus give away a larger proportion. Your proportion is yours to decide. That you determine a proportion is a key component of Christian stewardship. And remember that those who tithe still get to keep 90%!
It is responsible.
By this I mean two things. Firstly, the determination of your financial stewardship is the result of a prayerful, thoughtful, and intentional process. Christian stewardship is not about seeing what is left over when all other commitments are made. It is a core commitment in itself. Secondly, it is financial support given in a timely and consistent manner. The parish pays its bills this way. We would appreciate receiving support this way.
It is sacrificial.
I cannot afford to financially support this parish. I could easily expend every last penny on appropriate and worthy causes in the context of my own life and family. I suspect this is true for many of you as well. Christian stewardship always hurts. Our giving is based on the notion of a God in Christ who gave wholly of himself, even to the point of death. Perhaps to the extent that our financial support isn’t accompanied by an ‘ouch’ is the extent to which we should revisit that support.
It is one of my deep desires and goals that St George’s be a generous parish: generous in support of our own ministry, generous in our community – especially among those who live on the margins – and indeed generous beyond our borders and around the world. To be so, I believe, is to attend to the principles which are at the heart of true Christian stewardship.
Andrew +