October 2017 Vestry Papers: Stewardship
Dear Friends,
How can we become faithful stewards of God’s many and immeasurable gifts to us? In this issue, we encourage you to think of stewardship not as a season, but as a way of being – being conscious, gracious, thankful and committed to celebrating and sharing what we have been freely and abundantly given.
Year-round stewardship can inspire parishioners to recognize and then share their many gifts in a consistent and meaningful way. In Transformative Stewardship Calendars, Chris Harris shares ideas for every liturgical season to encourage sharing and giving throughout the year in a variety of ways.
Having an endowment to draw from is a gift, but it is one that is exceedingly easy to mishandle. In Four Steps to Maintain and Increase Your Endowment, Jerry Keucher lists ways to recover and re-build your endowment, if you find that your church is over-drawing.
How much do we value and respect the time our leaders offer in service to our church community? In Seven Ways to Steward Leaders’ Time, Miguel Escobar offers ideas to help us become effective and thoughtful stewards of valuable time spent in service to the church.
In An “Endow your Pledge” Campaign Deborah Kelly writes about what it means to endow a pledge and shares her church’s successful, step-by-step campaign that resulted in several members endowing their pledge, securing the future for their church.
What does it mean to be a faithful steward of God’s gifts? In Christian Stewardship, Sandra Montes encourages us to practice awareness and gratefulness for the present, while planning for the future. This article is available in English and Spanish.
Are you a congregational leader? Register now for the 2018 Church Leadership Conference taking place March 2-4, 2018 and save with early bird prices! The Church Leadership Conference is an annual gathering of vestry members and congregational leaders for practical learning, reflection and formation. The conference is designed in partnership by ECF and Kanuga, and the focus is to strengthen, equip and re-energize church leaders for church leadership and ministry.
To learn more about ECF and our programs, please visit our website.
Faithfully,
Charis Bhagianathan
Editor, ECFVP