Q: What is Stewardship?
A: The Episcopal Dictionary of the Church says that stewardship is “our personal response to God’s generosity in the way we share our resources of time, talent, and money. Stewardship reflects our commitment to making God’s love known through the realities of human life and our use of all that God has given us. It is also our service to God’s world and our care of creation. Parish members are encouraged to make an annual stewardship pledge. This pledge represents their specific Christian commitment to “work, pray, and give for the spread of the kingdom of God” (BCP, p. 856) (source).
Each fall, typically in October, St. Francis’ starts a Stewardship Campaign to give parishioners a chance to make a pledge of financial support for the following year. In our Stewardship Q + A brochure, we say a pledge is “a heartfelt, documented financial commitment to support our remarkable ministries in the year ahead.” Knowing the committed (pledged) income helps church leadership write and follow an annual budget, including important components that must be known in advance like salaries, programmatic restraints, and outreach possibilities. Leaders draft the budget typically in December and it is approved by the Bishop’s Committee in either December or January, then presented to the congregation at the Annual Meeting.