Stewardship:

Gather * Grow * Share

Witnessing Stewardship
Reflections on sharing our time, talent and treasure

By Glenn Mazzella

As we celebrate St Paul’s 95^th Anniversary it is my turn to contribute some thoughts on “Witnessing Stewardship”. I am one of the least qualified members to write about St Paul’s history, (my family has now been here only a year!), and so I’ll leave that to our elders. I do however feel more than qualified to share my family’s St. Paul’s experience, since my children and I are preparing to celebrate our 1 year Anniversary as part of the church family.

 

In paraphrasing the “temple talk” I gave a few months ago, I can tell you that our family has certainly dealt with some adversity. Specifically my boys lost their mom in December, (2 days after Christmas). Barbara and I had been separated for a long time, but we were close friends.  You would have thought the St Paul’s members were our lifelong friends if you saw how many of them were at Barbara’s funeral. This meant so much to my children and me. Here we truly Witnessed Stewardship, since for all intents and purposes, most were almost strangers! No familial ties or business obligations required them to attend. It was just love and support. These members are not strangers anymore. They are our church family.

 

Seeing you each Sunday and during our church activities serves to reconfirm for my children how much they are loved. This is a critical component of being a steward, a servant of God. Remember when a child loses a parent they sense a loss from someone who loves them very much. While no one can completely replace that loss, adding tons of new love is surely a great thing!

 

Beyond this, St Paul’s has given our family a foundation which provides us many opportunities to help others. My oldest son, Michael, will be attending work camp this summer, an experience I know will be fun and rewarding for him. Both Michael and Jonathan are acolytes and in general are almost always doing something to help out. (The Pastor makes sure of that!) For this and so much more I am grateful.

 

As you read our story I’m sure you are thinking of your own experiences at St Paul’s. With this in mind, it is a great time to take an internal “Stewardship Inventory!” Can you do more? Can you give more? If every one of us gave one dollar more per week, (in person or through the mail), the church’s weekly financial obligations would never be in the red! (as it is quite often now).  Do you take the time to stop and chat with others after service? How many people do you shake hands with during the offering of peace?

With all the things in life we must pay for, remember to take full advantage of the gifts that are free… especially the ones you can give. Thank you St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and congratulations on our 95^th Anniversary!

Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  2 Corinthians 9:7