Stewardship Ministry

Giving our Gifts with Faith in Christ

The 2009 Stewardship Ministry theme is "Giving our Gifts with Faith in Christ." It takes faith to trust that God will continue to provide for our needs.

• The disciples feared the thought of feeding the crowd; they had nowhere near enough food, they said.

• But what is offered to Christ is multiplied and becomes an overabundance.

Scriptures on Stewardship

Return to God His Own Gifts

"No one shall appear before the Lord empty-handed, but each of you with as much as he can give, in proportion to the blessings which the Lord, God has bestowed on you." (Deut. 16:10, 16-17)

Proportionate Giving

The Old Testament laid down the standard of giving a tithe (more than 10% of one's income) back to God. This provides us with the example: giving should be in proportion to our income. Stewardship is returning to God a fair proportion of the resources He has given to us. The more we are given, the more is expected of us. "Everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required." (Lk. 12:48)

Giving Regularly

St. Paul tells us: "On the first day of every week, each of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income." (1 Cor. 16:2) Each Sunday, we should prepare to make our Stewardship contribution to the Church in accordance with the Lord's generosity to us personally. Supporting the Church should be a priority for every Orthodox Christian and performed on a regular and consistent basis.

Consider how your expenditures on personal entertainment compare with your Stewardship pledge. Is your Stewardship simply a token donation? Or is your Stewardship pledge a meaningful response to Christ’s request of you?

Money enables Ministry

Money is a necessary tool for ministry. The Church's mission of salvation and evangelism depends directly on your generosity, which supports our Parish and Diocese.

Our Stewardship giving supports all the Parish Ministries and the entire operating budget.

We should not depend on special affairs to meet our budget. The growth of our Faith and its dissemination is our own personal responsibility. Stewardship places the responsibility where it belongs, directly upon us.

Your Stewardship is vital to our Church to:

• Keep in Touch With You

• Maintain our Buildings

• Provide for Those Who Serve Us

• Worship and Educate

• Support the National Church

November is Stewardship Month

Our 2009 stewardship ministry theme is “Giving our Gifts with Faith in Christ”. It takes Faith to trust that God will continue to provide for our needs. The Old Testament laid down the standard of giving a tithe (more than 10% of one’s income) back to God. This provides us with the true example: giving should be in proportion to our income. Stewards should strive to proclaim the Gospel to the world and to preserve the Church, which Jesus Christ established on Earth so that we could discover the way to salvation and eternal life.

Taking care of our Church is vital to the spiritual growth of each of us. God has made us all stewards and has given us abilities and talents that are unique. All that we have is given to us by God. As God has been generous to us, He expects us to be generous toward the work of Christ and His Church. As we share our material possessions, we spread His love to the world!

“Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.” Proverbs 22:9

“…And Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.” St. Mark 12:41-44