What is Stewardship?
Stewardship is our taking care of and making good use of the gifts we believe to be ‘on loan’ to us from God. Being a good steward means making good use of our God-given talents and time; perhaps through useful ministries at St. John’s and perhaps in other ways. Our time is a gift from God…some of which we are called to give back. Our talents are gifts from God…some of which we are called to give back. God’s gifts of time and talent, along with so many others, allow us to make money. God desires that we be good stewards of that money for ourselves and for our families, and that we give some of it back to a place where we and others experience a deepening of our faith. Stewardship then is God’s call to all of us to make a commitment to a place like St. John’s that offers everyone so much more than we could ever buy or acquire from the world.
What is a pledge?
A pledge is first; a commitment to God from your heart…and then a financial commitment to the place where you and your family encounter and experience God in your life/lives. So tangibly a pledge is your annual commitment to give an amount of money to the church in regular installments (weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually) of your choice.
What if I need to change the amount of my pledge?
We recognize that employment and economic situations change; sometimes in a way that means tightening our household budgets, and sometimes in a way that brings our household budgets a little more. If this happens after you have made your pledge, we want you to know that a necessary reduction in your pledge is something we will receive with sincere pastoral understanding. We also hope you recognize that if God has blessed your family with a greater abundance than expected, you can always increase your pledge to St. John’s as well.