When Lex asked me to talk to the congregations about my thoughts on stewardship, I said that I was really uncomfortable talking in front of large groups. He asked me to pray about it. Frankly, I’d rather be getting a root canal than standing here right now, but sometimes we are called to stretch our faith. Lex and Zonnie certainly did that, packing up their young family years ago and heading off to seminary! I remembered his recent sermon about saying “Yes!”, and I told him I’d give it a go.
We’ve just finished my favorite season of the church year – the Season of Creation. I believe our very being comes from God. It’s a miracle we’re all here!
I want to share our family blessing with you. It’s been passed down for ten generations. At our annual fall reunion recently, seventy of us gathered together, ranging in age from two to 92. Before lunch, it was beautiful to hear these words, all of us chiming in. “Bless us, oh Lord, and let this food strengthen us, to serve thee for Christ’s sake. Amen”. The very food we eat comes from God. The rain that nourishes the crops comes from the heavens above. As we eat, we are taking in nourishment and recreating our bodies; it’s like taking God into ourselves. What does this idea of nourishment and service have to do with stewardship? Everything!
One day, when our little daughter was about three, we were running errands. She looked out the car window and asked, “Mama! Whose house is THAT?!” It was a church. I said, I guess you’d say that’s God’s house. She replied, “Well, I wanna go there!” When Peter came home from work, I said, “Sweetie, we’re in trouble.” He asked what was wrong. I said, “Daisy wants to go to church.” We were not churchgoers at the time, and that plea from our precious daughter started us on a long and beautiful journey. Churchgoing became very important to us. At pledge time, we always gave something. It was nowhere near a tithe, but we wanted to do our share as we were able in supporting our church. Giving of our resources, which are not only from God but rightfully belong to Him, is what nourishes our church. Like the fall harvest, the pledge season of ingathering brings in the monies that keep the lights on, keep the blessed air conditioning running as well as the heat that warms us in these cooler days. Our pledge dollars go to support the salaries of our wonderful clergy and staff, as well as taking care of the many sundry needs like the reams and reams of paper to print our bulletins for services, weddings and funerals; and they pay for the all important pigs in a blanket and coffee we enjoy after services. Trinity is a GIVING church in our community. The many ministries all require our support to keep them running. I feel it’s important to lend support as we can.
Stewardship, however, is not just about money. I feel it’s about giving of our time and talents as well. It might be Ashley Eastham’s creative and award winning publications. It might be Sara Allen Harper’s devotion to running the rummage sale with baby Frances on her hip. It might be Tim Trapolin sharing his artistic talents with his seasonal offerings in the Undercroft. Marsden Moran and other gifted writers fill our inboxes with inspiring Meditations. It was certainly a gift for Carl Hardy to give us the beautiful garden adjacent to the church and maintain it for over 20 years! The list goes on and on. Our clergy, acolytes, eucharistic ministers, ushers, greeters, readers, Altar Guild and Flower Guild all support our services with Paul Weber and the choir setting the stage for worship with beautiful music. There are many ways to give to Trinity, all in gratitude and service to God.
Trinity has survived both pestilence and storm – with Covid and Ida keeping us out of our beloved place of worship for well over two years. Sadly, our numbers dwindled. Prior to Covid, our parish was strong. We persisted in worship, though, spread out in Bishops Hall. Many parishioners stopped going to church altogether. Then, the double whammy of Hurricane Ida displaced us. Worship never ceased though. Somehow, we kept going. Why do we come and come again? We come to worship, to Praise God, to hold up Jesus as our Lord and savior. It’s in coming to church and participating that we bring Trinity to life. If nobody came, it would just be an empty and forlorn building.
I want to close with this. I believe Stewardship – the giving of our resources and time - are so important to express our gratitude to God. Once, many years ago, a number of us were standing around chatting at coffee hour. We were discussing with one another why we come to church. Molly Reily, a most generous lady, said - with her wonderful smile, “I come to say thank you.”
Touche Molly, Touche!
