We held a Stewardship meeting a few weeks ago, and the topic for an article for the Pohick Post was discussed. Running behind in getting things done, I asked if anyone wanted to volunteer to write the article, and when there were no takers, I asked if anyone had a suggested topic for me to write the article. The Brotherhood of St. Andrew had just finished a meeting where they had discussed Luke Chapter 18. Several members of my committee thought this reading had some implications about stewardship. That same Saturday I received a magazine called Trinity News in the Stewardship mail box which also had some interesting stewardship articles. I found the combination quite inspiring, not necessarily in the way those that suggested the Luke reference might recognize.

In Luke 18: 1-8, Jesus is telling the parable of the unjust judge who was being bothered by a widow to get her justice. The judge finally relents and says,” Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming.” Now I realize that Jesus uses this as a parable to teach the reward for prayer, but I would like to paraphrase it to mean that here is the Stewardship Committee bothering you again about stewardship at Pohick Church.

In Trinity News, there was an article by Michael Durall about a different way of looking at stewardship. He has written many books and articles on the subject and runs stewardship seminars. Right there in the first paragraph was this quote, “I’ve read many times the story of Dives and Lazarus; the difficulty of that camel passing through the eye of the needle; and where your treasure is, therefore lies your heart. These stories are very good. But they have become less and less effective over time as a way to inspire stewardship. Now for the Biblically astute, you might recognize that the difficulty of the camel passing through the eye of the needle is in another parable told by Jesus in Luke 18:29.

Now where does that leave us? Do we look elsewhere for inspiration to encourage giving to the church? It has been suggested in stewardship campaigns, that the T-word (tithe) not be used as a recommended level of giving. In another article in the previously mentioned edition of Trinity News, it is suggested that we might want to stop using the S-word (stewardship) because it is overused and losing its true meaning. Instead use the “less unpleasant” Annual Giving Drive for the exercise of collecting pledges each fall. No matter what words or phrases one uses, the act of giving and giving freely to the church should be something that should not “bother” parishioners, and likewise, touchy words should not have to be filtered from the vocabulary used to sponsor such drives. However, I fully agree with Mr. Durall’s final conclusion in his article. “I’m wondering if the stewardship message should be a membership message instead. Each member, new or old, should be expected to play some role in creating and sustaining a church that is a worthy and deserving recipient of their charitable giving.” With your help, Pohick can be such a worthy and deserving church and you will receive in return the knowledge that you “will receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.” Luke 18:30