1Chronicles 29:14- … all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee. KJV

In first Chronicles, King David gives thanks to the Lord for the materials gathered for the building of the Temple:

"But me—who am I, and who are these my people, that we should presume to be giving something to you? Everything comes from you; all we're doing is giving back what we've been given from your generous hand. As far as you're concerned, we're homeless, shiftless wanderers like our ancestors, our lives mere shadows, hardly anything to us.

God , our God, all these materials—these piles of stuff for building a house of worship for you, honoring your Holy Name—it all came from you! It was all yours in the first place!

I know, dear God, that you care nothing for the surface—you want us, our true selves—and so I have given from the heart, honestly and happily. And now see all these people doing the same, giving freely, willingly—what a joy!

O God , God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, keep this generous spirit alive forever in these people always, keep their hearts set firmly in you.

And give my son Solomon an uncluttered and focused heart so that he can obey what you command, live by your directions and counsel, and carry through with building The Temple for which I have provided."

Stewardship Events & Processes

Sept 26 – Announcement by Mary Clark that Kate Holland is Stewardship Chairperson for the 2011 Campaign. Both services.

Sept 29 Kate puts letters to Vestry & Committee Chairs regarding Oct .20, “In-Gathering” in mail boxes.

Sun., Oct 10 – Youth Group stuffs envelopes for Parish members.

Fri, October 15 – Kate has letters sent out to parish.

Sun., October 17 – Stewardship “ Kick Off.” Pastor Barbara to speak at both services on stewardship.

Wed., October 20 – Vestry Meeting - “In-Gathering” of Vestry members and Committee Chairpersons. Purpose: Presentation of their pledges during first part of meeting. Service Agenda: opening prayers, Eucharist, presentation, end. (30 minutes) Vestry Meeting continues.

Wed., Oct 20 to 23 – Mary counts pledges to date. Gives information to Kate

Sun. October 24 – Guest speaker, Warden and 1 Lay person , at both services: Two short speakers. Kate gives up-date of pledges by Parish Leaders and Committee. Kate reminds parish of pledges …please send in a.s.a.p.

Sunday, October 31 – Patrick Seyler speak. Reminder of “In-Gathering Sunday” on Nov, 7.

Monday, Nov 1 – 6 Mary counts pledges and calculates breakdown of pledges: old, new, increased, decreased and Property Pledges. Kate writes letter of thanks and letter of request.

Sun., November 7 – “In-Gathering Sunday” and All Saints Sunday. Pledges collected during service and presented with offering. Mary, Kate and Committee open envelopes and counted after service.

Sun., Nov 14- Kate to give reminder to get pledges in and give accounting to date. Committee counts pledges and creates list of those to get letter of “Thank you” and letter of “requests.”

Sun., November 21 – Parish Thanksgiving Dinner and Stewardship Celebration. Kate recognizes Committee and up-date of pledges given.

Sun., December 5 - Kate thanks parish and give up-date of pledges to date. Committee stuffs letters to those not heard from and letter of thanks to those who have pledged.

Mon., Dec 6 – Letters go out.

As we review our Stewardship Campaign, I hope we did a good job of defining the needs of our church and the needs of God's people. I hope we never make people feel like those in this video: What if Starbuck's marketed like a church? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7_dZTrjw9I

You might be interested to hear what people say about why they don't come to church: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUJpJyth3J4

And, here is a bit called God's Pie, about defining our priorities: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiTcW3AAa64

The Stewardship Committee of St. Christopher's Church coordinates the Stewardship activities of our church. We support our membership in their commitment to carry God’s work into the world through this community in Oxford, PA. We plan and execute the Planned Giving Campaigns and offer Stewardship Education opportunities. Contact us at Stewardship@StChrisOxford.org with any questions or comments.