Current Stewardship Campaign

The theme for the Stewardship Campaign this year is "As the Seed, so the fruit".  The idea is the God gives us all "seeds" of various kinds, and the caretaker type tries not to lose them.  When God gives seed to a "steward", the challenge is to nurture them, make them grow and thrive, and in the end harvest a bountiful crop.  This year's campaign will involve a variety of parish wide activities, all ways to explore and instill becoming better stewards for ourselves, the parish, the environment, and for other people.

The first exercise is the green leaf project.  There is dead "live"oak tree in the altar area.  Each week the people write down some way they have been challenged to grow, challenged to care, or challenged by Jesus to do something good or to make this world a better place.  Each has something, no matter how small or great, to contribute.  The green leaves go into the collection plate along with offerings for money for the work of the church and then onto the tree, and over the summer, the dead tree is coming to life, covered with the non-monetary aspects of being a good steward.  We are off to a great start.

Other ideas are coming---literally passing out real seeds in the early fall and asking people to nurture them and return them as living plants to be planted in a community bed at the church.  Buildings and grounds will come up with a program of how we can be better stewards of our physical plant and buildings and garden and grounds.  We welcome other ideas or members to the committee.

The "harvest" of our pledge will likely be in early November to give the Finance committee time to compose a budget.  By then, we hope and pray that the entire parish family will be more connected with the values of St. Stephens and what it means to be a part of a larger community.   Our aspiration is that if we plant the seeds of greater involvement, participation, and recognition throughout the growing season of summer, then the miracle of God giving life in the form of seeds in the hands of stewards will result in a rich and shared harvest.