Bonnie Anderson, president of the House of Deputies of the Episcopal Church, calls on all Episcopalians to take up their high calling to be stewards of God’s mysteries. “Each individual’s, family’s, congregation’s and diocese’s giving takes on immeasurable significance in these tough times, calling us anew to unimagined opportunities to live as the holy people of God,”
Being stewards of God’s mysteries
by Bonnie Anderson in Episcopal News Service online
“This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God” –I Corinthians 4:1.
On the autumnal equinox just a week ago, as the earth was tipping on its axis, congregations all across the Episcopal Church were hoping to tip themselves into the black by preparing for their annual stewardship campaigns.
In the Episcopal Church, the fall stewardship campaign, or “pledge drive,” is as predictable as the rising and setting of the sun. Even though the stewardship-campaign ritual continues as usual in congregations across the church, this year the situation is different. All across the globe, people face new and significant economic challenges. Unemployment rates are at all-time highs, funding for public education is inadequate, and public services are on the chopping block. Too many people are unable to earn even a subsistence income, and too many children and seniors suffer too much.