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The Commission on Stewardship

Reflections on Stewardship

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Making a Pledge

Making a pledge should be primarily a spiritual decision, reached after prayer and reflection. Our decisions about pledging reflect central parts of our spiritual life.

Feeling and showing joyful thanksgiving for God's grace.

Gladly offering a portion of our wealth - our first fruits - to God's work.

Having faith that we can give generously and not suffer want.

Many of us are not yet at the point in our spiritual and financial lives where we can offer our own first fruits to God's work. But the fact that we may not be there today doesn't mean that we shouldn't participate now to the best of our ability as we continue on our journey toward better stewardship of our time, talent, and treasure.

As you consider pledging, be assured we are well aware that the economy is uncertain. Please know that this is a voluntary pledge and therefore it is appropriate to modify your pledge later in the year if your changing economic situation makes that necessary. It is also important to trust that when you make a pledge you will fulfill it with God's help - just as you fulfill your other promises you make to God.

Our goals are more spiritual than financial. We seek to grow our church in numbers and in ministries and programs. We seek the involvement of all of our members in the joy of God's work. Making a pledge is an essential part of full membership in a worship community. When you pledge, you announce your intention to be a part of this community by promising a portion of what you have to support God's work. You also express your faith that we as a community are good stewards of God's gifts to us. Pledges also enable your staff and Vestry to exercise responsible planning for our life together and thereby to be good stewards of all facets of that life.

(adapted from the website of St. Pauls, Ft Collins, CO)

quotes worth repeating "Christ now has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours; Yours are the eyes through which His compassion is to look out on the world, yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good, and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now." - St. Teresa of Avila "Not to give to those in need what is to you superfluous is akin to fraud." -St. Augustine “That to which your heart clings and entrusts itself, I say, is really your God.” -Martin Luther "So either we get up and move away somewhere, anywhere, as though we had never seen this greatest of all miracles. Or we kiss the flower that bows its head to us, embrace the bright wind that seeks to fill our sails, open our arms, our lives, to the deepest miracle of reality itself and call it by its proper name, which is King of kings and Lord of lords, or call it by any name we want, or call it nothing, but live our lives open to the fierce and transforming joy of it." - Frederick Buechner from The Magnificent Defeat "Our beliefs as well as our actions must come from our heart, for in our hearts the true wisdom that frees us and the path of compassion are inseparable." -14th Dalai Lama of Tibet

quotes worth repeating “Dearest lord, teach me to be generous; teach me to serve you as you deserve; to give and not to count the cost.” -Ignatius of Loyola “O Lord that lends me life, lend me a heart replete with thankfulness.” -William Shakespeare “Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it’s the only thing.” -Albert Schweitzer "I have had many things in my hands and I have lost them all, but whatever I have placed in God's hand I still possess." -Martin Luther "A checkbook is a theological document. It tells you what you are putting first in your life." -John Maxwell "Our stewardship, then, is what we do with what we have been given by God to do His work in the world. It is our story - how we live our lives for God and others. It is not about us. When we take ourselves out of the center of our lives, the fog lifts and we can see more clearly what we are called to be and to do. Then, and perhaps only then, are we able to take the leap (or at least a few beginning hops) of faith on our journey of stewardship." -Karl Wolstersdorf

The Commission on Stewardship

The Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

2744 Peachtree Rd. N.W.

Atlanta, Georgia 30305