STEWARDSHIP

Good Morning, many of you out there I am acquainted with, but for those I don’t know, I am Gina Y. I’ve been a member of Christ Church for 8 years and I am honored to be here today to share my experiences of Stewardship and the way I approach giving of my time and treasures. First a little back ground. I am not a cradle Episcopalian nor am I a native Iowan.

I grew up in West Central Minnesota in a small homogenous town.

How small you might ask? My son Jack was commenting on the Cedar Rapids deer population the other day and remarked to me that Cedar Rapids has 5 times more deer than my home town! Prinsburg is a small Dutch town that has 2 Christian Reformed Church’s and 1 Christian school.

I’m telling you all this to give you a little back ground on how I grew up viewing pledging and giving to the church.

In Prinsburg, once a year you or your family could expect a meeting in your home with some member of the consistory (the equivalent to our Vestry).

This was a scary evening for kids. You had to be clean and quiet and good. (That’s a tall order for some children, at least if was for me!) Your parents and the elders of the church discussed in earnest what they thought your family could afford to give to the church that year.

Thank God that we do not do things like that at Christ Church. Instead as you know, we send out Pledge cards and ask you to prayerfully go to the Lord asking God to lead you to give what YOU can to further Gods kingdom on Earth.

Thinking back on the meetings with the Elders, volunteering at the church and giving of your time and talents was never really talked about. I think it was just assumed that the women would help in the kitchen, with Sunday school, and spring cleaning.  And the men would serve as Elders and Deacons, and take care of maintenance etc…I kind of like that sentiment. Because I believe that if you commit to a church, you have to give of YOURSELF back to that church.

The good thing about being at Christ Church is that we have many areas that you can use your talents towards or help out with.  We have a fine history of volunteerism here at Christ church, and to those who have given countless hours of their time…THANK YOU. But to be honest… there are never too many volunteers

I have found that as the years change so do my interests. When I joined Christ Church my children were young, so naturally helping out in HEARTLAND is where I gravitated. Now I am giving my time to the J2A group, Vestry and various other ministries of the church.

Fortunately today after the service we will be having a volunteer fair. You can visit the  tables down stairs to gather information on all the committees, groups and opportunities there are to be involved in or in many cases, continue being involved.

Looking ahead to 2006 our congregation is going to have to come together to bridge some financial gaps.

I urge you to consider proportional giving this year. Look at your last years pledge and give 1% more than you gave the previous year.

Next week you will be receiving a letter in the mail with your Pledge card and time and talent sheet. In it Father Bill will explain proportional giving.

Something interesting happened for me some years ago, I felt the Lord telling me it was time for me to grow up in the church, to start stepping up and taking more responsibilities both in giving of my time and treasures. When I made that conscious decision I found that the first check I was writing at the beginning of the month was to my church.

The feeling of commitment to Christ Church has grown with the increased pledging year to year.

Christ church is a beautiful community, we have been blessed deeply.

May God be in your hearts during this pledge time and beyond.

Amen.