WHY YOU SHOULD BECOME A STEWARD
I have not heard of 1 church that had a decrease in revenue when it changed from a dues system to a stewardship system.
The Bible teaches us that stewardship does not only involve our support of the Church. It is a demonstration of love for our fellow human beings and for all of the earth, its environment, its creatures, its resources. We actively seek what we can do for others, similarly to the way God came to us, for us. We are taking care of what God has given us. We are managers of all He has given us. Stewardship goes back hundreds of years before Christ. The Old and New Testaments are replete with passages on stewardship and its unique relationship to the eternal salvation of our souls. It is said there are 2000 references on how to handle our money and possessions.
I really tend to think that we complicate the stewardship concept – it is not complicated, but quite simple. In a nutshell, since we are required to take care of all that God has given us, we need to support the most important thing that he has given us – Our faith and church. It is not only our church or our parents’ church – but first and foremost it is God’s Church.
We believe that everything we have (our time, health, relationships, talents, property, and church) comes from and belongs to God. Every Sunday we pray: “Let us commend ourselves and each other and all our life unto Christ our God”. As stewards of God’s gifts, we are asked to give God a portion of our time, talents, and treasures through the church. Each parishioner determines the amount he or she shall commit for the support of the church, proportionate to his or her income. Stewardship is believing in our church and wanting to support and keep its mission alive. Stewardship is a way to meet the financial obligations of the church and give God back a portion of what He has given to us.
Stewardship is not about money; it is about spirituality and increasing our commitment to Jesus Christ. But when we increase our commitment, the Church will benefit financially.
In order to increase our commitment to the Church, the concept of the 3 T’s has developed. We are to give our time, talents, and treasures to support our church.
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 Board member, a KSS 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.
We need to convey to our parishioners that most of them are already stewards as they give a great deal of their time, talents, and donations. What parishes are not doing is having the parishioners make a financial commitment in the form of a pledge.
The concept of giving a percentage of earnings goes back to the Old Testament. If we pledge and make a financial commitment, it will help our Boards to develop budgets. We will have a better idea of the donations that will be made during the year.
With a membership dues system, we charge minimal dues and receive weekly donations, memorial donations, and feast-day donations. These forms of donated income are not enough to support our church, so we resort to fundraisers or hall rentals. It makes it very difficult to budget. What if the weather is bad on Badne Vece or Easter or it rains during a festival? What if parishioners are not able to go to church every week and put a donation in the “tas” (collection plate)? What if parishioners boycott a particular fundraiser? What if hall rentals abruptly stop?
Under the Christian Stewardship Program, the parishioners are asked to make a commitment to the church and pledge an amount that they will donate during the year. We are called to show that we can support our church and that we do not need others to support our church. The Bible says: “The Lord loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).
The payment of dues is indeed very unfortunate and not quite aligned with the Gospel, as it connotes that you are paying a fee in the same way as if you pay dues to a Club or pay your taxes. Also, a church cannot support itself with minimal dues, and it would not be fair to raise the dues (say $1,500) and have everyone pay the same amount. Each person has different resources.
Stewardship involves proportional giving; 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. Even though we make unequal pledges, we make equal sacrifices.
I am not against fundraisers. They serve important functions. We enjoy each other, make friends, and in many cases find our future spouses. I am saying that these fundraisers should not be a primary means of supporting the Church. We should not be supporting our Church by always expecting something in return for our money.
We should give not because of some duty but because we love God and our church. We need to make God a priority and give regularly, just as we pay our other bills regularly. We all find time and money for the things we value the most. If we look at our checkbooks, we can see where our priorities lie.
Back in my previous parishes, when I made some stewardship presentations, I found that it takes a minimum average of $30.00 per week per family ($1,500 per year) just to maintain the active ministries of a typical Orthodox Church. There are some that will not be able to give $1,500 a year, and there will be some that can give far more. I also found that income increased in those parishes that changed from a dues system to a stewardship system. If a parishioner cannot make it to church, he or she will still fulfill his or her pledge.
You may also hear some resistance from those who say that stewardship is not Serbian; that it is Protestant or Mormon. It is funny how we pick and choose as to what things must be Serbian and what things do not. Bingo and golf tournaments are not Serbian, and we have embraced those concepts, and even lament to this day for not being able to have bingo anymore.
The fact is that stewardship, pledging, and tithing are based upon Holy Scripture, the Old and New Testaments. Stewardship has been the Christian or Biblical method of church support through the centuries. Our parishes should be governed on the basis of Holy Scripture and Orthodox Tradition in accordance with the teachings of the Holy Orthodox Church. Nothing else! Stewardship is Orthodox. Annual pledging was also practiced by the early Christians in Serbia – portions of the first wine and harvest went to the Church.
We all have the common trait of being very appreciative of all the sacrifices that our parents and grandparents, and great-grandparents made for us. Those pioneers, who had very little, took care of their homes, their churches, and their family members in our homeland. I believe that we now have the opportunity to be pioneers with stewardship. We need a vision of our church 50 years from now. OUR GOAL SHOULD NOT JUST BE FOR OUR CHURCH TO SURVIVE BUT TO THRIVE. If our children observe us giving our time and our talents and our money to support the Church, we can thrive for generations to come.
Bible References
The Bible has 2,000 references to money and possessions.
Lev. 27:30 – commandment to Moses that the law be to tithe 10%.
1 Corinthians 4:1. Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
1 Corinthians 16:2. On the first day of the week, let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, so that there be no collections when I come
2 Corinthians 9:6-9. But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
James 1:17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4. Woman with 2 mites. While others were giving out of their abundance of wealth, the woman gave all she had, thereby giving more than all the rest.
When deciding on your pledge, please remember there are four basic principles of Christian giving. First, God loves a cheerful giver (II Corinthians 9:7). Second, giving should be proportionate and giving our thanks involves sharing a portion of our income for God’s work. Third, our giving needs to be regular and methodical (I Corinthians 16:2). Fourth, our gift should be sacrificial. Our giving may be difficult, but that is the meaning of sacrifice when choices must be made.
