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Moseley Chimes
April 2008
In a few weeks’ time, Bishops throughout the Anglican Communion will be coming to this country from all over the world for the decennial Lambeth Conference, hosted by Archbishop Rowan.
Fifty years ago, under the leadership of Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher, that same body issued the following Episcopal guidance:
“There can be no forward steps without a full acceptance of Christian Stewardship. By Stewardship, we mean the regarding of ourselves, our time, our talents and our money as trust from God to be utilised in his service. This teaching is an urgent need in every congregation; a parish without a sense of Stewardship has within it the seeds of decay.”
In addition to this traditional view of Christian Stewardship, we also need a vision for the parish that is based upon the Gospel, the Good News that God who created us, gave his life for us through his Son so that we might not perish but have life and have it in abundance. What immense generosity there was in that gift of created life. What unconditional and sacrificial love there was in that act of selfless giving in redemption. How should we respond to this generosity and love?
One of the fundamental principles of Christianity is the act of ‘giving’. At Easter, we gave thanks in the Eucharist for God’s supreme gift of his Son, raised from the dead after dying on the Cross. In fact, we celebrate this every time we take Holy Communion but how can we give thanks in practical ways? How can we try to give back to God something of what he has freely given to us? Whatever we do will not be enough in comparison but self-giving is one of the main aspects of Christian life. It will involve a certain amount of self-surrender and a reflection of our personal response and commitment. And to respond adequately, we must act responsibly because we are stewards not owners of all that we have, all that we are.
As the Bishops taught in 1958, Christian Stewardship means the regarding of ourselves, our time, our talents and our money as a trust from God to be utilised in his service. There will be other occasions to consider stewardship of time and stewardship of talents but now I would encourage you to consider the stewardship of your money. It has been said that money is congealed life. All of our work, our skills, our personalities, are reduced to a negotiable form. When we give money to God or to anyone else, we give that which represents ourselves. Whether we respond to God’s creation of life or to his act of redemption or a proper combination of both, we are faced with the tremendous generosity of God. As his children, changed by his Spirit into his likeness, we must surely expect some of that generosity to rub off.
So what will be your response?
Stewardship is not a new idea to solve the problems of the Church. There are more references to money in the Bible than to any other subject. As you will know, the standard of giving for the Israelites of the Old Testament was the tithe, one tenth of all produce. In the New Testament, the emphasis is on sacrificial and thankful giving as well as the blessings that flow both to the giver and the receiver. Even today, tithing is some people’s response. Others aim to work towards giving five percent of their net income which has been consistently recommended by general Synod and Archbishops’ Council as the standard for giving to and through the Church. Here at St Mary’s and St Anne’s, we aim to give five percent of income to external charitable causes both at home and abroad so you can be assured that you do not need to keep anything back if you want to make gifts to charities other than the church.
In making a responsible decision, take a look at your own income and circumstances and work out the figures. It isn’t rocket science. Calculate what is two percent, three percent, four percent, five percent and 10 percent of your net income. Then consider what the right proportion is for you to give back to God through the Church. Think about it and pray about it. What does God want you to do? Some people try to strike a balance between the amount they spend on themselves and the amount they give back to God. Stewardship is about learning how to give according to your means. Whatever method you decide to use, it should be realistic and proportionate and, above all, responsible. Pray about it and make a deliberate decision each year.
I have no doubt that some people already give in a very sacrificial way. There are certainly many of us who already give regularly, every week or month or quarter through the Free Will Offering Scheme. Most pay by standing order so that they know that they are giving even if they are unable to attend church. If you are a taxpayer, giving through the Gift Aid scheme means that the church recovers more than 28 percent on top of what you give without any cost to you at all. If you pay higher rate tax, ask me to work out for you how much more you can give to balance out your tax saving and make sure that you get the amount included in your Tax Return or added to your PAYE tax coding.
Here at St Mary’s and St Anne’s, we need to raise the level of our Free Will Offering significantly in order to afford the desired expenditure on our mission and ministry. The Stewardship Group is asking everyone to reconsider their giving: for regular givers to increase; for those who give only when they attend church to give more regularly; for those of you who are taxpayers to give by Gift Aid (if you do not already) and for those who do not give to start, if you can afford to do so. Look at the figures in the leaflet handed out with the pew sheets over the last few weeks or pick up a copy from the back of church. Reflect on them and pray. If any of God’s generosity has rubbed off on you, as surely it must, I hope that you will want to respond by moving your Christian Stewardship from the level of obligation through the level of generosity to the level of sacrifice, just as he did for us.