A Positively Poetic Priest

What is stewardship? Stewardship is the keeping, tending, safeguarding, and giving back of the gifts which God has given to us. Why give? God created us to be givers. God created us with the ability to give gifts to other people and doing so brings us joy and gratitude. Why should I pledge versus simply giving? Pledging helps both the giver and the church. Pledging helps the giver be intentional about what they are giving and by giving the gift spiritual grounding. Pledging helps the church in the budgeting process and by having an estimate of how much the church can expect to receive during any given time period. If we were all to tithe would it be enough? Does tithing keep the church "open"? With an Average Sunday Attendance of 75, with a range of family incomes between $15,000 and $100,000 on a normal bell curve, we would far exceed our current budget requirements if everyone tithed. Yes, tithing does help to keep the church “open.” However, it is no...

Today is Stewardship   Sunday ! Which means that it is the start of St. John's Stewardship Campaign! Yay! I know you are all absolutely thrilled! Lets talk about money! It has been a few years since St. John's had a stewardship campaign. The last few years, the financial focus has been on the lift project, hoping to install a lift in the Parish Hall to help people get from the top to the bottom floors and back up more easily. While we are still working on that project, and I hear good things about how it is progressing, this year we are going to have a Stewardship Campaign again. We are asking for pledges for next year, and this is an opportunity for all of us to think deeply about what we are giving back to God in our lives. In Paul's letter to the Romans today, we hear him say that whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. We hear Paul say that we are accountable to God. In his letter, he was mostly addressing behavior, especially the behaviors which created ...

Rally Day 2017 Here at St. John's, the community has been through many new eras. It has seen new centuries. It has seen new technological advances. It has seen the changes in cultures throughout the years. Each time has been death and a rebirth, a new era created through belief in the vision and faith in the journey. With the changes going on in the world, St. John's is facing a new era. I'll tell you what about this new era though, the destination hasn't changed. We are moving forward towards Jesus' second coming. We are moving forward towards the kingdom of heaven. We are moving forward towards the fulfillment of salvation for all people. The destination hasn't changed. We are still walking towards the vision of peace on earth through God's love. The Israelites were starting a new era with the Passover as told in the passage today from Exodus. From that day forward, they were marked. They were going to be saved from the Egyptians by God. They...