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First you believe, then you are baptized into God's kingdom. And
at Baptism you make promises to God: To continue in the apostles'
teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers;
to persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin,
to repent and return to the Lord; to proclaim by word and example
the Good News of God in Christ; to seek and serve Christ in all
persons, loving your neighbor as yourself; to strive for justice
and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human
being.
Stewardship is how we live out those promises in our daily lives.
It is discipleship. It is what you do, with all that you are and
all that you have, after you have made that public declaration 'I
believe.' It is the public expression of our private prayer: Here
I am, Lord: use me. It is our willingness to act as the healing
hands of Christ offered to a broken world. The gifts of God, given
through us.
The Bible is very clear on giving. We are to give generously, as
an act of worship, experiencing the joy of giving. It also tells
us clearly to whom we should give: firstly to the Church, the bride
of Christ; to the needy within the Church; the needy in the world;
to our enemies; and to the Kingdom of God generally. The Episcopal
Church affirms the tithe (10%) as the minimum standard of giving.
This doesn't meant that you have to go out immediately and give
10% to the church, merely that you should be aware of the proportion
you are giving and work towards the tithe. At the recent General
Convention the Episcopal Church also affirmed the Millennium Development
Goals as one of its mission priorities. These are,within the next
ten years, to:
- Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
- Achieve universal primary education
- Promote gender equality and empower women
- Reduce child mortality
- Improve maternal health
- Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
- Ensure environmental sustainability
- Develop a global partnership for development
Ah, you say, give first to the Church - but St. Paul's doesn't need
my money. The budget is covered. Well, this is true, but it's irrelevant.
Firstly because your pledge is a public statement of your commitment
to giving, and of your support of the faith community where you find
your spiritual home. Secondly, and equally important, because there
are areas of our budget that could easily be expanded if congregational
offerings were increased: specifically in areas of Mission and Outreach.
Current expenses in these areas are:
MISSION:
- Orvieto community: Needs money to cover administrative expenses,
and would like to expand to offer pension to the priest in charge,
and allow members to participate in St. Paul's, St. James' and Convocation
events.
- Latin American Community: Needs include all normal program expenditures
for a large but not wealthy congregation.
OUTREACH:
- Joel Nafuma Refugee Center: Needs include staff salary, cleaning
and supplies, emergency funds. The emergency funds provide documents,
clothing, shoes, travel and phone cards.
- World Vision: We support two children through this organization,
one in Columbia and one in Zambia.
- Agape: This institution in Sri Lanka was begun by former St. Paul's
parishioners, and provides counselling to trauma victims, most recently
to survivors of the tsunami.
- Other: There are a number of interesting projects around the city,
the Convocation and the world that come to our attention but cannot
be supported through the budget. Some of these projects are the
recipients of collections throughout the year: the elderly poor
of this city; the annual Rice Bowl project; the Halloween party
in aid of Peter Pan; the Convocation mission Sunday collection for
Haiti. In addition, the Latin American community has regular charity
events raising up to € 1,000 at a time for projects dealing
with nutrition and children in South America.
We, the Stewardship Committee, would like to challenge the faithful
of St. Paul's. Firstly, to make a public statement of your commitment
by making a pledge. Secondly, to think of creative ways to expand
the budget to express our faith as a community, living out our baptismal
promises, buying into the millennium development goals, and to 'bearing
witness in Rome to a dynamic and living Christian faith, open to
all and rejecting none.'
Stewardship Committee:
Andrea D'Agosto
Amy Elizabeth Roth
The Rev. Dr. Michael L. Vono +
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