By Rev. Jocelyn Emerson
In this Stewardship blog series from Jocelyn’s Corner, Pastor Jocelyn will offer meditations on aspects of stewarding our resources.
Stewardship is a word we throw around every year in churches. We talk about stewardship at the time of year when we create our church budgets and ask people to commit to giving for the following year. This results in a relatively narrow focus: how to best steward church finances.
Because of that, we often don’t want to think about, talk about, or learn about stewardship, especially if we feel we don’t have the financial resources to support the church the way we want to.
Stewardship is so much more than finances.
What Is Stewardship?
The Oxford Dictionary defines stewardship as follows:
Stew·ard·ship
NOUN
stewardships (plural noun)
the job of supervising or taking care of something, such as an organization or property.
“Responsible stewardship of our public lands” · “he resigned his stewardships at Westminster Abbey and St. Martin’s” · “systemic failures cannot be ascribed to the stewardship of a political party” · “Pennsylvania’s forest stewardship program”
Stewardship Is A Way of Life
Stewardship is about all aspects of caring for what we are given.
When we reflect theologically on this, the concept of Stewardship expands; it’s about taking care of all that the Sacred has given to us — everything in our life, including our abilities, our time, our finances, our land, our prayers, our worship, our love, and so on. The list is endless.
Stewardship, theologically, is a way of life for me.
One of my mentors talks often about “praying our life and living our prayer.” This, to me, is true stewardship. If everything we do is reflected as prayer, as our way of honoring the Sacred, then we are truly being good stewards, good caretakers, of our lives, our world, our faith, God’s call to Compassion and Justice.
If everything we do is reflected as prayer, then we are reflecting fully the Light, Compassion, and Justice of the Sacred, and that is the highest form of stewardship we can offer.
When we are in our fullest reflection of the Sacred:
- We are working toward justice.
- Our empathy and compassion deepen, widen, and grow.
- We experience deep peace and work toward its manifestation in the world.
- We operate from a generous heart, sharing our resources freely.
- Our worship and spiritual connection with the Sacred evolve toward Oneness.
- Acknowledging the Sacred in the entire web of life, we care deeply for Mother Earth and all creatures living on her.
- We seek ways to share in learning, growing, faith, and spiritual formation.
- We covenant together as a community to support one another in this vital work of the Sacred.
That is just a few ways stewardship is expressed as we align our hearts, minds, bodies and spirits fully with the Sacred.
For me, the more aligned I am with the Sacred, the more natural my sense of stewardship is. It flows freely, calling me to hold myself and others accountable to the Sacred’s call.
Reflection Questions on Stewardship
- What does stewardship mean to you?
- What questions arise as you reflect upon, contemplate, and wonder about stewardship?
