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 A word from Pastor Steve Tangen:
The theme of our fall stewardship campaign is It’s About Time. The theme will help us focus on a series of renovation projects as we take time in our busy lives to:
1) Offer our everyday lives as opportunities for renovating our relationship with God.
2) Offer our everyday lives as opportunities for God to renovate our relationships with one another.
3) Offer our church home as a place of Christian welcome and hospitality as we renew and renovate our outreach ministry to the community and beyond.
At the conclusion of the campaign, we’ll ask, “Did these shared renovation projects help you move to the next stage of your faith journey and to the next stage of your life of giving generously?”
Pastor Steve Tangen |
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What is Stewardship
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Stewardship is managing our lives with Christ at the center.
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Stewardship is taking time each day to be grateful for the gifts God has given us.
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Stewardship is recognizing that we are called to be good stewards all of the time. Understanding the message of stewardship changes every decision we make.
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Stewardship is taking time to renovate our personal relationship with God by spending time with God in prayer, scripture, and worship.
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Stewardship is taking time to renovate our relationships with one another by encouraging
others to use their talents so that together we carry out the mission of the church for the
sake of God's world.
Back to Top Definition of a Pledge
A pledge is a faith discipline by which a Christian steward designates an amount of money to be shared with the congregation to carry out God’s work through St. John Lutheran Church in the coming year.
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Why Pledge and Give to God’s Work Through the Church?
- A pledge is a Christian discipline that allows us to have to have a plan for giving that can be evaluated and revised annually, or during the year.
- Pledging and giving are healthy financial habits.
- Along with worship and joyful service to others, regular giving based on an annual pledge keeps us in relationship with the One who has given us life.
- The fall stewardship ministry is an annual gratitude alert, reminding us that pledging and giving are joyful acts of thanksgiving.
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How Much Should Stewards Pledge and Give?
Christian writer C.S. Lewis says, “I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare . . . If our contributions do not challenge us, they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our giving excludes them . . . ” (Mere Christianity)
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How Do Stewards Make Decisions about Growing in Their Pledging and Giving Habits?
- If your faith is still being formed and you are not giving regularly, choose an amount to give on a regular basis.
- If your faith is still being formed and you aren’t using offering envelopes, consider using envelopes as a way to assist you in regular giving.
- If your faith is still being formed and you haven’t previously made a pledge, choose an amount to pledge based on a reasonable estimate of your capacity to give.
- When you are growing as a steward, God will also challenge you to grow in your giving and pledging.
- When you are growing as a steward and you decide to pledge a percentage of your income, consider where you hope to be in five years, and develop a disciplined plan for increasing the percentage each year.
- When you are growing deeper as a steward, keep a healthy balance in your approach to sharing, saving and spending.
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A Steward Prays
Lord, It’s About Time. You know these are busy times in our lives, Lord. Our calendars seem to fill up without any effort on our part. Help us find time to spend with you, so that we might hear you calling us to renovate our relationships with you and with others. Help us trust that in you, there is time for every matter under heaven. Amen.
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Ecc. 3:1).
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Campaign Vision
We at St. John Lutheran Church are purposefully spending time exploring the ways in which God
wants to enter into and renovate our lives from the inside out.
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Stewardship Goals for 2010
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Teach adults and kids about the opportunities to renovate our relationships with God and with each other, as we grow deeper in our lives of faith.
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Share stories about times when we felt most alive, most involved, or spiritually touched in our lives of faith at St. John Lutheran Church.
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Have all ages participate in returning at least 375 pledges in response to God’s call for us to carry out our in ministry to our members and to our community.
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