INTRODUCTION
"Good morning to all you good people of St. Anne’s, both here in person and on line. For those that don’t know me, my name is David Batchelor and I am a member of this parish.
I am here to tell you a story – who doesn’t like a story? I don’t think it will be as entertaining as some of Cliff’s stories – that’s a tough act to follow. The story I have to tell is one with a moral like most fairy tales, however this IS NOT a fairy tale.
David Batchelor’s Stewardship Reflections
To use the introduction from an old BBC children’s radio program – “Are you sitting comfortably? Then I will begin.”
Once upon a time, actually about 3 years ago, in a land far away, in reality, it’s just the other side of the river, live a happily married husband and wife. This couple had been faithful worshippers at a local Anglican church for more than 30 years. They were deeply involved in parish life such as altar guild, bazaar committee, parish council, various other committees and, possibly more importantly, as part of the weekly worship team, as readers, intercessors and lay assistants. Due to unfortunate circumstances beyond their control, massive changes came about in the leadership of their parish. After many months of prayerful discussion, long walks where church was the main subject, and talking over with close friends, they made a heart-rending decision to move to a different parish. I stress heart rending, for this couple had strong ties with that parish with family remains buried in the Memorial Garden at the church.
The big decision was made to “try out” St. Anne’s, about which they had heard good things. The transfer to this parish came about and the husband and wife live happy and contented with their lives especially with their new place of worship. On arrival they were welcomed with friendship, compassion and a strong sense of family and community. They quickly learned that St. Anne’s is a beacon of care and compassion in the local district of Steveston and the larger city of Richmond. They heard of the wonderful things that this parish has achieved and continues to achieve. It wasn’t long before they became involved in parish life to the extent of their ability, both directly through volunteering and financially.
Through their involvement with St. Anne’s, they learned that the parish has many important outreach ministries to help those less fortunate in their community. In addition to these ministries, St. Anne’s rents out space in the building, on a regular basis, for a preschool, a music practice facility for the youth orchestra, a concert venue and other functions. Even with the rental income and other financial resources, there are some serious financial issues.
I know this story is true and not make-believe because, as you might have guessed by now, the husband and wife that I am referring to is myself and my dear wife Penny. You might ask, what is the moral of this story? There is a strong moral which is that all this amazing work that is being carried out by the clergy and parishioners is not sustainable without the financial support necessary to achieve the goals and objectives of St. Anne’s. In this wonderful Godly place, we are able to freely worship with very strong leadership and deep-seated fellowship. We have many untiring volunteers who give freely of their time and talents. We have many parishioners that make generous financial contributions, however, due to some circumstances beyond our control including a recent flood and the ongoing upkeep of a well-used building, the financial resources of the parish have been severely depleted and stretched. Why are we talking about this? To put it in simple terms, we are spending a lot more than our monthly income. For more information on this please talk to one of the trustees or treasurer, I am not the financial guy!!
The trustees and parish council are charged with being good stewards of the resources of St. Anne’s. The word “stewardship” is an anathema to many people so we try not to use it too much. Unfortunately, it is a fact of life, be it in our context of the church, the running of our homes and for any business to succeed it must have good stewardship of its resources.
What is Stewardship? The word means different things to different people. A liturgical definition is “Stewardship, quite simply, is recognizing that everything we have and everything we are is a gift from God and being grateful and generous with those gifts. God reveals His perfect and infinite love for us most visibly in His Son, Jesus Christ. A steward "makes God's love visible by imitating Jesus.” A biblical world view of stewardship can be concisely defined as: "Utilising and managing all resources God provides for the glory of God and the betterment of His creation." The central essence of the biblical world view is that stewardship is managing everything God brings into the believer's life in a manner that honors God and impacts eternity.
As I have mentioned, there are three major cornerstones in maintaining effective stewardship. They are TIME, TALENT and TREASURES. If we remove just one of these cornerstones then the structure will collapse. What this means is that if we are unable to sustain, on an ongoing basis, any one of these features, St. Anne’s, as we know it as an important piece in the greater community of Richmond, will decline and deteriorate rapidly.
None of us want this to happen so we, the Parish Council, are embarking on a course of actions throughout the year to keep you informed and motivated with a view to turning around the fortunes of St. Anne’s.
How is this for a New Year’s resolution: “To the best of my ability and resources, I promise to increase my financial giving to further God’s work through our wonderful parish of St. Anne’s Steveston”. Please give it some prayerful thought as to how you can continue to support our dream. Thank you for your attention.
TREASURE
You may recall that a few weeks ago I spoke about Stewardship and what it means to St. Anne’s. At a recent Parish Council meeting I used the simile of the four cornerstones of Stewardship, and, indeed, of the church, to help explain where we as an Anglican community are going with this program. They are TIME, TALENT, TREASURE and WELLNESS. If we take away one of those cornerstones it is quite possible that the “building”, as we know it, will collapse, and if it doesn’t collapse it will be teetering on the edge. I would like us to focus on the third mentioned cornerstone, that of TREASURE. To put it into simple terms, your money and how you use it. It is recognized that times are tough with rising prices of food, housing and just about everything else. We have to remember that these rising costs are equally felt by the institution of St. Anne’s. Like you, bills have to be paid, wages have to be covered, the on-going repair and maintenance of this lovely building and services it provides to the community have to be met, and so on.
As has been mentioned many, many times, all that we have (including money) comes from God. Although it may be a struggle to make ends meet, we mustn’t lose sight of that that statement. Many people do not want to hear about the giving of money however we cannot survive without it – it is a fact of life. It is suggested that you obtain a copy of the church’s financial information and read through it carefully. Okay, I know it is not an easy document to read BUT it is relative to ALL of us. Hopefully it will give you an idea of what your hard-earned dollars are being used for. It gets a bit frightening when you see what is coming in and what is being spent. Believe me, there is careful scrutiny on any expenditure. Some questions are asked. Is this essential? Is this desirable but not essential? How do we pay for the unexpected? All these question amount to a summary of what money is needed to maintain the operation of St. Anne’s as we know it. Does this sound like a business exercise? If it does, then the message is starting to become a reality. No business can survive when it is financially underfunded, and the church is no different. As has been mentioned before, all that we are and all that we own comes to us from God. In Archbishop Douglas Hambidge’s book “The S Word”, he summarises the stewardship of money thus:
A major problem with our stewardship appeal is that It is all too often inward looking. It is bound up with the ideas of surviving another year, meeting budgets and paying bills. It seems to have little to do with expressing what God is worth in our lives, and not much to do with identifying ourselves. With the clearly stated agenda of God that you can find in both Hebrew and Christian scriptures.
If the people of the Church ever grasp what giving is all about, there will be no need for special appeals, drives and campaigns. Once the meaning of money - the theology of money - is grasped and set in the context of God's agenda then the very world will be turned upside down. The hungry will be fed; the captives and the oppressed will be liberated; the blind will see and the poor will hear good news.
That is the context and the goal of stewardship. That is what God has placed in our hands. We are not merely called to take part in stewardship programs. We are called to be stewards of God's future: not just collectors of money, not fundraisers, but stewards entrusted with God's agenda with which to shape the future for God and for the Kingdom.
Please take time to look inward on yourself and establish what your priorities are with God. We all love St. Anne’s and what it does for us and for our community so please make the best monetary contribution that you are able to ensure the continuing well-being of our church. As an afterthought, you may think that by “pledging” to the church you are making a covenant that cannot be broken. This is not the case, as people’s circumstances can change dramatically in a short space or time which makes for new priorities in our lives. I would like to change the word “pledge” to “INTENTION”. To me, this says this is what I intend to give, but it can change, either up or down, as circumstances dictate!
PLEDGE v INTENTION
What does a word mean? Well, there is quite a difference between the above words. PLEDGE: a solemn promise or undertaking. A further expansion states: “to make a serious or formal promise to give or do something.” This doesn’t leave very much wiggle room if your financial situation changes because you have made a solemn promise before God!
On the other hand:
INTENTION: a thing intended; an aim or plan. A further expansion states: “idea that you plan (or intend) to carry out”. As we all know, plans can change, sometimes beyond our control. When we make an intention before God we are saying this is what I hope (plan) to do and if my situation changes then I may have to alter my plan(s).
To me, the differences are quite stark – there is no subtle innuendo. Hopefully this will help to clarify the difference between the two words.
MANAGING OUR RESOURCES
Stewardship, what it is and what it means to us, the people of St. Anne’s Steveston. What is Stewardship? Stewardship is an ethical value that embodies the responsible planning and management of resources. The concepts of stewardship can be applied to the environment and nature, economics, health, places, property, information, theology, and cultural resources. That is a bit long-winded but explains how it applies to our everyday living as well as our St. Anne’s church community. It isn’t ALL about money as many people think. As we hear many times throughout the Bible – everything we have is a gift from God. Over time I will be touching on the four cornerstones of Stewardship – namely Time, Talent, Treasure and Wellness. The first I will be tackling is Treasure (money) and its importance in the whole scheme of things. I would like to draw your attention to two scripture passages that refer directly to money and stewardship.
Please read Matthew 25:14-30 – the story of a nobleman who entrusted his slaves to use different amounts of money wisely. Reflection: This parable tells of how an unscrupulous power and wealth hungry person can use money to buy power and more wealth, even asking the slave to whom he gave one talent/pound to give to the slave who had already doubled his master’s investment. The outcome of this parable is summed up in the closing verses of the passage. Is this fair and just? Which slave would YOU be? What would you do if you were the slave with only one talent? The one good thing I take from this story is that of trust. We need to trust the care of our treasures to those who receive from us in God’s name. What do you think?
TIME, TALENT, TREASURE & WELLNESS
For those who attended on Friday May 24 th , how can we forget the OMID (Hope) dinner and entertainment that was held at St. Anne’s as a fund-raiser for our Afghan refugee family. It struck me afterwards that this wonderful event was the embodiment of stewardship. “How come?” you might ask.
In remembering the four pillars of stewardship we talk of TIME – this was given in abundance by the parishioners who organized the event, those who catered and entertained at the event and the people that showed up on that wet evening.
TALENT – this was there in abundance. The talent of the organizational skills of those who produced this evening at
relatively short notice; the talented cooks and entertainers and who can forget the Afghan songs sung from the heart!
TREASURE – we thank the generosity of the people that provided silent auction offerings, for the people that attended, for their outlay of treasure for tickets.
WELLNESS – we are grateful for the wellness of all and hope that by our outreach to the Afghan family that we are supporting, their wellness and safety will continue. An immense STEWARDSHIP effort by all involved. My message is to use this as a platform and template for your future stewardship efforts in supporting our wonderful church and community.
GIVING
On Sunday, June 30 th the second reading was from Paul’s 2 nd Letter to the Corinthians, 8:7-15. To me this has to be one of the classic stewardship teachings the Bible. I am going to quote directly from “An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament” because the words really resonated with me, as they are applicable to all facets of Stewardship. “You are strong in faith, noble in speech, wise in understanding, and the whole-hearted in all that you do. The love we planted in you has grown strong. Since you have done so well in all these things, see to it that you also do well in this gift of giving. I am not demanding that you give, but, by choosing you as an example for others, I am proving how deep your love truly is. “For you know that our Honoured Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One. Even though he had great treasures, he became poor for your sake, that through his poverty you might share in his great treasures.”
“The reason I give you this counsel is to help you finish what you started to do last year. You were the first to be willing to help, so now it is time for you to finish the journey you began. Be as eager to finish the journey as you were when you started, and give as much as you are able. I would not ask you to give more than you are able. If you have a willing heart, it is accepted that you give from what you have and not from what you don’t have.” “It is not that I am trying to lift the burden of others only to burden you. But to restore the balance, you who have more than enough should give to the ones in need. Then when you have more than enough and you are in need, they can help you. This is what I mean by restoring the balance. Just as it has been written in our Sacred Teachings, “The ones who gathered much had nothing left over. The ones who gathered little had all they needed””. What do you hear in this teaching? My challenge to you is for you to consider where you fit into this story. To me, it demonstrates that even if you have little, in most cases, you have enough. It also says that when we start giving to God, that is only the beginning of a journey that we embark upon and we need to finish that journey strongly. To reach the finish line we are asked to increase our giving to God commensurate with what we need to sustain our lives – not what we ‘want’ but what we ‘need’. I will be interested to hear the people’s thoughts and reaction to this powerful message.
TALENT
All of us have talent! Some will question that statement and say, “I really don’t have any talent or skills to offer St. Anne’s”. My reaction to that is, “Not True”! We all have talents, whether we recognize them or not. In Paul’s letter to the Romans 12:6 he says: “We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher in teaching; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness”. In Peter’s 1 st epistle, 4:10; he says; “Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received”. A further reference to talent or “gift” is in 1 Timothy 4:14; he says; “Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you through prophecy with the laying on of hands by the elders”.
What does all this mean in real life? I challenge every one of you to look in the mirror and say out loud, “What gifts (talent) do I have that I can give to God in recognition of what God has given me”? You might be surprised at the “answer” which may be a small, in your opinion, gift or a much larger one. Listen to what God has to say to you.
CHRISTMAS REFLECTION
It is time for a summary of the stewardship message throughout the year, and what better time than just before Christmas when GIVING reaches its peak. As we all know, Christmas is considered to be the time when we give the most. There are many worthwhile causes out there in the big wide world. Obviously, we cannot give to them all, but after prayerful reflection we make our decisions.
That word GIVE/GIVING keeps on repeating itself throughout the year. What exactly do we mean? One perspective, particularly in the stewardship sense, is that we give of our time, our talents and our treasures.
In the lead up to Christmas many of us give a lot of our time in deciding what to do with our talent and money, also in considering what gift we want to get for our family, relatives and friends. Why do we go through this exercise every year? Jesus taught us that it is better to give than to receive, however, I don’t think any of us are averse to receiving gifts – that is human nature. Jesus eventually gave us the “ultimate” gift – his life.
In our decision making we think of our time and our talents that we can give to our community, in this case St. Anne’s Steveston, and beyond. Decorating the church for the Advent and Christmas season, making wreaths, helping people who are less fortunate than ourselves, cooking, entertaining – the list goes on. These are our God-given talents that we share with others and which, in many cases, encourages them to do likewise in some way. Of course, we also express our giving in sharing some of our wealth with the church and those around us.
In order to be able to achieve all this giving we must be aware of our wellness, in body, mind and spirit. Without this personal wellness we will not be able to give as we desire. May the blessings of giving at Christmas bring you peace, comfort and happiness.
WELLNESS
What does the word “wellness” mean to you?
To me several connotations come to mind. Firstly, and most obviously, is our bodily (physical) wellness; then we must add to that our mental and spiritual wellness. Included in all of this is our day-to-day and financial wellness. There is the wellness of our family and friends that also enters the picture.
Looking at a larger picture we should consider the wellness of our society which includes the church, the many volunteer organizations, our government on all three levels and the wellness of the services we rely on – think medical, pensions, supply of groceries, transportation and many more. We must not take for granted that these will always be there for us. We have to work at wellness in all facets of our life.
Looking at a much, much larger picture we need to consider the wellness of the world we live in. We have all heard of the climate change challenges that this beautiful planet of ours faces. This is wellness on a grand scale. There are some parts of the world that are decidedly unwell – we immediately think of the Ukraine, Israel, Palestine and many other areas where there is conflict.
To refocus to our part of the world we seriously need to consider the wellness of this wonderful parish of St. Anne, Steveston. There is a not a readily available “band-aid” or “surgical” solution. I am asking you to prayerfully consider how you can assist in keeping our parish in a state of wellness. Think carefully on how you can get involved – we all have something to give.
TIME
A biblical reference to Time can be seen in Paul’s letter to the people of Ephesus (5:15-17) where he says; “Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is”.
When thinking of time there is a need to think outside the box, the box being our community of St. Anne’s. This parish has been exceptional at reaching out to the less fortunate in the City of Richmond, with particular reference to our sandwich, backpack and Christmas ministries. We have also looked beyond the borders of Canada to helping an Afghan family immigrate to Canada. As those deeply involved in this project will tell you, a lot of time has been invested to make this project a success.
We must not forget those people less fortunate than us within both our municipal, provincial and national borders who need our consideration and time to improve their lives. While recognizing that we all lead busy lives and many of us are already very involved, not only with the church but also with the day-to-day running of our lives, my challenge to you this month is how much time are you able to devote to those who will benefit from our prayers and actions; within our own community and those outside of it?