Welcome

Welcome to The Steward’s Well, a quarterly resource created especially for those leading stewardship in the congregation. In our natural world, we are well past the winter solstice; each day brings with it increased light. In our church year we celebrate the season of Epiphany, the growing manifestation of Christ’s light in the world. Epiphany is both an event and a season. With the story of the Magi, their journey, and their discovery, we celebrate the light that comes into the darkness with the birth of Christ. 

 

How will we absorb and reflect this light in our journey this year? How can we, like the Magi, bring gifts to bear that will reveal the presence of Jesus in our midst? How can we become bearers of light throughout the year? 

 

In this edition our contributing writers shed light on practices, perspectives, and practical tools that offer stewardship ministry teams a way to spark conversations about generosity, giving and stewardship in ways that reveal the illuminating truth that God asks us to grow, to give, to be grace and light in the world. To help foster and keep stewardship aglow year round, be sure to view and use the recently launched faith and action stewardship ads developed by the Office of Communication of the Episcopal Church. And for your planning purposes you will find a year-round check list to plan for your annual giving campaign at my blog at www.thestewardswell.org

 

Wishing you a light-filled journey this year.
 

Blessings,
Laurel



Nourishing Life in Gratitude: My Story

A great gift I received once was when someone taught me how to needlepoint. I was thirty years old and just beginning my ordained ministry. I thought needlepoint was for grandmothers, not young professionals. I was wrong. Needlepoint was for me, and for the past twenty years needlepointing has been a creative, contemplative art that restores my soul. This year I am working on this magnificent piece by Erdman Designs.


Nourishing Life in Generosity: Best Practices


Starting Planned Giving from Scratch

What’s the sure-fire way to set up a planned giving effort from scratch in any congregation? There’s no magic bullet. I’ve worked with congregations all across the country, and I’ve learned that each in unique. However, there are some basic steps that should work for almost any Episcopal faith community.




Year Round Stewardship Ads

One of the many working definitions of stewardship--and this one has been around for the last sixty years--is everything we do after we say we believe. My sense is this definition has its staying power because it begs the question: What do we believe? And how do our choices and actions align with our beliefs? Holistic and ethical in its approach, this definition asks us to consider how we connect our faith and action. How do we bear the light of Christ in our faith communities and in our world?



Fishing the old Hawaiian Way

“Follow me and I will make you fish for people.”  Jesus


“A ohe hana nui ke alu’ia”     (“No job is too big when done together”)    Hawaiian proverb


There is an ancient method of catching fish here in Hawaii called hukilau .  Like New Testament fishing, it is a collaborative process that involves a net, and a community of people. It is not about the efforts of a single person casting a single line into the sea, nor is it about hiring a boat staffed with professionals while we sit back and enjoy the view. Rather, a team of committed folks, with different gifts, abilities, and interests, works together, pulls together, prays together, and eventually even parties together!



Epiphany

On Epiphany day,
we are still the people walking.
We are still people in the dark,
and the darkness looms large around us,
beset as we are by fear,
anxiety,
brutality,
violence,
loss----
a dozen alienations that we cannot manage.

 


Events

Congregational Development Conference
Net: How Real Churches Really Grow
Feb 7-9, 2012
St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, Kauai, Hawaii

 

2012 Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes
Becoming God’s Courageous Community
March 7-10, 2012
Christ Church, Charlotte, North Carolina


Featured Website

The Episcopal Network for Stewardship (TENS)
www.tens.org

 

 


Resources

Prayers for a Privileged People
By Walter Brueggemann

 

A Life of Being, Having and Doing Enough
By Wayne Muller

 

Journey into Light
By Joan Chittister

 




Email Me

The Rev. Laurel Johnston
Stewardship Officer
Los Angeles, CA
212-716-6219