Givings Update(September 2006)

Practising stewardship intimately ties us to who we are as a Christian people.  Stewardship is an expression of faith.  It is not simply the church’s way of raising money; rather, it is a spiritual discipline that encompasses our very being as Christians.  It is a radical departure from our secular understanding of charity where we give to an external need.  Giving is not predicated on a certain act, nor is it something we do just because it is convenient.  Our vocation as a Christian is that we give freely and in great generosity “for God loves a cheerful giver” (2Corinthians 9:7).  Recognizing that God actually gave us everything we have in trust, we, in turn, share the gifts we have been given.

From the Old Testament we learn that the people were to give of their “first fruits.”  The same principle applies to us today to give the first fruits of our labours to God through His Church.  We should also give in proportion to what God has given us.

Last year we sent everyone a letter encouraging each identified giver to proportional give 2% of their gross pay to St. Anne’s to help us with our programs both here and in the diocese.  Such a pattern of giving enables us to ask for the same proportion of support from those on fixed incomes as those who make considerably more.

To find your current level of local church support, divide your pledge by your gross income (income before income taxes) for the same period.

Example:  Your figures:
 
A.  Current Gross Income        $   20,000  $__________
B.  Annual Projected Givings  $        600  $__________
C.  Current Percentage Level            3%   ___________%
    (Divide line B by line A)

We would like to thank everyone who has supported the church with his or her time, talents and treasurers.  All types of contributions are important to keep our community healthy.  Each family must determine what is appropriate for them.

At St. Anne’s we have a strong history of rising to meet the challenges once our parish needs are understood and known.  If you would like to talk to someone about our finances you can contact either Warden to discuss this matter further.

David, Robert
Wardens

Stewardship Sermon May 22, 2005
Reverend Peter Wickerson, Rector

This week we all received ‘the letter’ – the one from the churchwardens and the treasurer asking us for money!  We probably all knew it would be coming sometime.  It seems it always does, and many of us express our displeasure.

Why does the church always have to be asking us for money?  Isn’t the church’s business the spiritual welfare of the people, not material things?

A couple of weeks ago I was with a small gathering of parishioners of mine from a former parish.  It was a social event.  And among the guests that evening was a man who was not usually with us on these occasions, but who also is a member of that church.  I hadn’t seen him for nearly twenty years, but I recognized him.  I said, “I remember you, I was your priest back then”.  He said, “I remember you, too; you were always asking us for money!”  Not exactly what I expected him to say.  Not something I was particularly eager to hear.  That’s not the lasting impression one hopes to leave.  But he had a point.  It was during my time in that parish that we mounted the most ambitious stewardship program I have ever been involved with in the church.  It was called ‘Response’ and was made available to, and encouraged for use by, every congregation in our Diocese.  Its goal was to increase givings of church members by nearly one-third – 30% - to meet current budget expectations and to fund new projects.  It required the active leadership involvement of the parish priest, the churchwardens, parish council and a stewardship committee.  People received pledge cards and could expect an every member visitation!  And the program worked!  The church saw the results of their efforts; ‘the fruits’ of their labour.  Givings did increase significantly; new initiatives were undertaken – and years before “The Field of Dreams” became popular – we realized “that if you build it, people will come”.  If you demonstrate the need, have a ‘plan’ to address it, and a strategy to carry it out – people will support it  ‘Financial’ giving can be understood to be a part of ‘spiritual’ giving – sacrificial giving – as the letter we all received this week at St. Anne’s expresses it.

The ‘stewardship campaign’ we are undertaking here is much lower key than ‘Response’. There is only this one letter that is expected to be sent out.  There are no pledge cards and no canvassers will come to your door.  There will not be a series of sermons on ‘Stewardship’ and ‘financial giving’, just this one.  But the basic intent is the same as other ‘stewardship’ initiatives – to raise awareness about the need to support our church with our time, with our talent and with our treasure!

The letter we received from our churchwardens, which members of the parish council and other parishioners at large had a hand in ‘composing’ – their ideas and feedback solicited before the final letter was sent out – calls us to the New Testament model of “pressing on towards the goal”, an image from the world of sport; of athletes physically trained and disciplined so that they can compete at the highest levels in their respective fields.  St. Paul’s image of the ‘athlete’ was based on the Olympic ideal he would have witnessed in  ancient Greece.  As members of the church, ours is a spiritual discipline; but nonetheless demanding and all inclusive.  It requires, and  I repeat, the intentional, proportionate and sacrificial giving of ourselves – in terms of our time, our talent and our treasure!

But before “pressing on” let me stay with the image of athletes and sports for a minute – a passion of mine, from a spectator’s point of view, that I hope to indulge more during my retirement.  People often say that they don’t have to go to church to worship God.  They can do that anywhere, anytime, with no strings – financial, or otherwise, attached!  And I can actually agree with them – to a point!  We don’t have to go to Labatt Park, and pay $5.00 a ticket or to the Rogers Centre and pay major League prices to enjoy baseball.  We don’t have to go to the John Labatt Centre and pay Memorial Cup prices – “Go Knights Go” – to enjoy hockey.  But there is something about being ‘at the ballpark’ or ‘in the arena’ or ‘at the stadium’ that enhances the games we watch and play.  We pay the price to be there.  We pay the price for adequate facilities; we pay the price to see the best performers and performances; we pay the price for all the administrative support and services that these activities require! 

And we come to church to worship God.  There’s something about being here that enhances our whole experience of knowing and appreciating who God is.  God, it is true, is everywhere, and as our Trinity Sunday gospel today makes clear, it is our mandate as the church, as Christian people, to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and to teach them by word and by example about Jesus!  We learn how to do that here – in church.  In an appropriate facility, built, appointed and maintained for us. We learn how to do that by hearing the word of God read and preached and taught in church and in our Sunday School.  We learn to do that in our music and our hymns.  We learn to do that by having the sacraments administered – the sacrament of Holy Baptism, the joyous celebration of a week ago, and the sacrament of Holy Eucharist, Communion, which we celebrate each week.   We learn to follow Jesus who is everywhere in our world by supporting the work of the church where it is, everywhere.

And we pay the price!  The cost of maintaining buildings and keeping up the property.  The cost of ministry – ordained and lay - equipped and trained to ‘lead us’.  The cost of administrative and support services – at the parish diocesan and national levels of church life.

We pay the price.  It all costs money.  Why are we so surprised?  We’re not when it comes to everything else in life we have to ‘pay for’. 

Is 2% of total family income before taxes too much to ask Christians to give to support their church?

The Biblical ‘tithe’ is 10% - and we’re not even going there today.  Surely, what we’re being asked to contribute is well within our means – and indeed, many of us are already exceeding that amount.  I would encourage us all to ‘press on towards the goal’ of 10% even if that benchmark seems well beyond our reach.

But let us at least be open and receptive to the invitation to give of ourselves – our time, our talent and our treasure – intentionally, proportionately and sacrificially – from the bounty God has given us.  We are Gods’ stewards.  Let us live and give wisely and generously to our church and to our world.

And as a postscript: I have it on good authority that when the  Diocese of Huron celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2007 the venue is has chosen to accommodate 10,000 Anglicans for worship is the John Labatt Centre here in London!  “Go Knights Go”!  “Go Anglicans Go”!   Let us fully support our church in the ways that it deserves to be supported.  In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen