STEWARDSHIP ONE - Up or Down?

Contributions to churches across the country have been in freefall for years. Attendance at Sunday services is stagnant or declining, as is church membership. The cause of this phenomenon is not clear, though many authors have written many words while trying to understand and explain what is happening to the faith lives of so many of our friends and neighbors.

This is the background that our Annual Stewardship Campaign is set against.  Many have fallen out of the habits of discipleship. We pray less than we used to. We attend worship services on fewer occasions than before. Scripture no longer holds our interest and attracts our attention to study. Our time is in short supply so we no longer feel drawn into service to others. And the time we used to have for fellowship with other church members is dwindling – we are called to other, more exciting activities.

There is a growing distance between ourselves, our clergy, our church, and our God.  We no longer nurture the relationships between ourselves and church or God. We do not see the connection between what we feel we should give to God – and what we actually give to the church. We may not think that God really needs our money so we don’t give our money to support our church and the work it does in our communities and the world.

How do we approach Stewardship in times like these? What we need to do is examine our economic well-being, our personal faith, our degree of spiritual satisfaction, and our commitment to God – the source of all that we are and all that we have.