Welcome
Scripture tells us For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1). The season of Fall is here, the days are shorter, the air a bit brisker and the leaves begin to change—God’s great gift of color to us. The blessing and invitation of this season is to ponder: How do we embrace practices of gratitude and thanksgiving for the blessings that have been given?
This is the season to explore how our pledge commitment reflects an offering of praise and thanksgiving. This is the sacrifice God calls us to make: to be a Eucharistic
people. Gratitude is not always easy, it is not always the obvious choice. Joan Chittister writes that life is an ongoing exercise in learning to sing Alleluia, even when we face moments that don’t feel like Alleluia moments. The spiritual work of gratitude is to offer praise and thanksgiving for the entirety of life—the good and the bad, the joyful and sorrowful, so that we claim the fullness of our life as a gift from God. When we do this, our lives become truly Eucharistic, a feast of gratitude.
In this issue, contributing writers explore the practice of giving as a path to investing in and participating in
God’s reign. Emily Mellot explores The Offertory—the act of bring gifts to the table—as placing ourselves on the altar. Money represents the labor and substance of our lives, it is an embodied sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. In addition, six contributing writers of the Feasting on Gratitude
series, explores stewardship, giving, gratitude and generosity in connection with the lectionary reading from the Gospel of Mathew each Sunday beginning October 2 through November 6th, All Saints Sunday. And, The Episcopal Network for Stewardship (TENS) will explore giving and gratitude with a robust offering of resources via a newly launched website at www.tens.org
How will this season under heaven be a time for you to embrace a practice of gratitude?
Blessings,
Laurel
Nourishing Life in Gratitude: My Story
I don’t know whether it is because I was born and raised in the Church of England, C of E we would always proudly answer when asked our religion as if it were a badge of honor, or whether it was that classic Anglican schoolboy upbringing, but belief, faith in God, Jesus his Son, crucified and died for us and for our sins, it always seemed relatively uncomplicated for me. God created heaven and earth. He gave his only Son Jesus to come among us in the flesh. Jesus was crucified for our sake and after He died, He was given life again. He sent the Holy Spirit to be with us. It really is no more complicated than that, is it? And so I go to church on Sundays, haven’t missed so many in my life as far as I can remember, I get my cup refilled, although sometimes not completely refilled depending on who is preaching the sermon that day, and I consider myself a Christian.
Nourishing Life in Generosity: Best Practices
Bringing Ourselves to the Altar: The Offertory
One of my favorite things about our monthly Youth Sundays is watching some of the congregation’s children bring the gifts to the altar. Some of them carry the cruet of wine with fierce concentration. Others grin with impish delight as they pass offering plates through the congregation. All of them seem conscious that they are doing something really important. And in that moment, I become truly conscious that the offertory may be the most important thing we do all week. Not just because the bread and wine become the real presence of Christ that feeds us. And not just because every check and every dime is essential to support the ministry of the congregation. But because when we bring our offerings to the altar, we bring ourselves.
The Electronic Offering Plate
Donate Now! We are accustomed to seeing “click here” buttons on Face Book pages, websites, and even on TV commercials that encourage donation via texts. Offering an electronic donation webpage is worth exploring, especially given that many people today conduct most of their financial transactions through electronic banking. Many parishes and dioceses that have online donation capability report that they capture gifts that would likely not have been given had there not been an easy and convenient way to give. But if you want your donors to have a positive experience when they make an online donation, know the questions to ask as you pick the right firm.
Investing in the Reign of God: Parable of the Talents
“Oh, if I could only win the lottery!” Wishful thinking is not a bad thing, but it is a poor substitute for determination and creativity. Results come not because of what we wish, but because of what we do with what we have. This is evident in Jesus’ parable of the talents as related in Matthew 25.
It is important to say something about the context of this story. Coming as it does towards the end of Matthew’s Gospel, immediately preceding the events of Christ’s Passion, the parable forms one part of an extended line of teachings beginning at the start of chapter 24.
Prayer Over Pledge Cards
Gracious and loving God, giver of all that is good and true and beautiful and life-giving.
These cards represent our sweat, they represent our lives, they represent our dreams. The pledges which we make on them are but tokens of the awesome gifts that have been given to us and they are pledged in thanksgiving for all we have received, for all we have been inspired to be, for all we are challenged to become, in this place.
May they be the first fruits of all we have and not what we have left over, so that we may live out as closely as possible how you give to us. May we see them as our offering to you, sacred, holy, yet earthy, filled with possibilities. May we hold this image in our hearts and minds so as we watch our offerings each week come to your table, we can see our very selves being part of this offering, it is us on the table, living sacrifices to you. Amen.
The Rt. Rev. Greg Rickel
Diocesan Bishop
Diocese of Olympia
To view additional resources on gratitude and generosity stay tuned for the upcoming launch of a new website for The Episcopal Network for Stewardship (TENS) at www.tens.org
Events
2011 Leadership Seminar
Ecumenical Stewardship Center
November 28 – Dec 1, 2011
St. Pete’s Beach, Florida
2012 Consortium of Endowed
Episcopal Parishes
Becoming God’s Courageous Community
March 7-10, 2012
Christ Church, Charlotte, North Carolina
Featured Websites
Stay tuned for the newly launched website
The Episcopal Network for Stewardship
www.tens.org
Resources
The Steward Leader: Transforming People, Organizations and Communities
by R. Scott Rodin
Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations
by Robert Schnase
C.L.I.M.B Higher: Creating a Vision for Giving and Discipleship
by Scott McKenzie, PhD., and Kristine Perry Miller, CFRE
