Questions on stewardship…

“Give an account of your stewardship”

Luke 16:2

Greetings Friends,

As a pastor I have a LOT of questions about stewardship. Someone asked me Sunday as they were shaking my hand on the way out of the church, “Why do church people hate hearing about stewardship?” I wish I knew the answer to that question! I FEEL like I need to push stewardship but if I THINK about it too much, I’m not sure. 

Does HEARING about stewardship change anyone’s minds about giving… and forget about TITHING…? I will be preaching a sermon in two weeks titled “ Is too much part of the problem? And in today’s culture I think that is a valid question because those who are doing really well financially may have a hard time parting with ten percent of that abundance. And sometimes a congregation will have one or two very wealthy, very generous members who make up most of the annual giving to the church and while it is good when the church is trying to “meet the budget” does that generosity by one or two “giving units” discourage giving from everybody else? That’s another topic I will be preaching on in November… anybody, nobody, everybody, somebody… and how they relate to ministry. This coming Sunday is All Saints Sunday and did you know every time the word saint is used in the Bible it is plural? Always saints are seen as a group. I’ve often said you can’t be a Christian by yourself, but it turns out neither can you be a saint by yourself!

I’ll stop here before I discourage folks from attending church in November. Let me just say that after 50 plus years in the Presbyterian church and after 35 plus years in ministry, I STILL have questions about stewardship.

Join us for worship this month and maybe we will have some ANSWERS.

It is a joy to be your pastor.

Mike

Announcements

• Samaritans Purse Operation Christmas Child – It’s that time of year again. Christmas is right around the corner, Shoeboxes will be available next Sunday, October 25th. They will need to return by November 15th. 
• Halloween Candy – Thanks to all that donated candy for our annual Halloween festivities.
• Blessing of the Animals – the Blessing of the Animals event was postponed due to weather. The new date is Nov. 8th.
• Avinger Memorial Service will be held on Sat, Nov. 7th.
• Covered Dish Luncheon – Sunday, Nov. 8th.
• Presbytery Meeting – Tuesday, Nov. 10th.
• Men’s Group Dinner – Thursday, Nov. 12.
• Phillips Wedding, Saturday, Nov. 14th
• Stewardship Dedication – Sunday, Nov. 15th.
• Refreshments on the Lawn – Sunday, Nov 15th.
• Worship Service at Old Wappetaw Cemetery – Sunday, Nov 15th at 3:00pm.
• Christ King Worship Service – Sunday, Nov. 22nd.
• Session Meeting – Monday, Nov. 23rd.
• Thanksgiving – Thursday, Nov. 26th.
• First Sunday of Advent, Sunday, Nov. 29th.
• College Students – Please turn in your students address to Beth Gannon
• Church Directory – Copies of the church directory are available in the Narthex.