Stewardship, as modeled by Jesus  and the early church, is really pretty simple. Not always easy, mind you, but simple and straightforward. Each of us has enough to share with others - though our areas of abundance may differ. Unfortunately, within institutional Christianity, stewardship has too often become a code-word for "we need more of your money."  Hopefully as we center our lives on the ways and teachings of Jesus, stewardship can instead become the lens through which we approach all of life with an abundant and generous spirit.

How can all our many personal resources - our time, energy, wisdom, passion, and wealth - support our shared ministry of living into God's new reign of justice, love, and peace as a community committed to Christ and to each other? 

On Sunday, September 4th, we will celebrate the many gifts our lives as we share out of our abundance the ways we expect to take part in our congregation's ministry in the coming year.

As you consider the many ways your faith influences your decisions on how to use your time, energy, and finances, here are some tools that will hopefully help in your reflection and discernment:

Richmond CoB's 2011 Narrative Spending Plan - The leaders of our congregation have created this narrative spending plan as a helpful way to frame the ways we think about how our church's finances connect with our church's mission. Rather than the categories and line-items of a traditional budget, this gives you a way to see not only how we as a church live into our mission, but also some of the resources it takes for us to do so. (pdf)

Personal / Family Narrative Spending Worksheet - Our church's leaders have evaluated the ways that our church's spending reflects our shared vision for living into God's new reign – now is the chance for you (or your family) to do the same! This worksheet will help you look at the ways you use your money and prayerfully reflect on how you are being called to use your finances to participate in Christ's ongoing work in the world. (pdf)(doc)

Sharing our Financial Resources Response Cards - As part of our Sept. 4th worship gathering we will bring forward these response cards as a symbol of our commitment to being Christ-centered stewards of our wealth and finances. Each individual or family is invited to complete both sides of the card, keeping the right half as a reminder of what you plan to contribute and turning in the left side so we can plan for the coming year. If you will not be in worship on Sept. 4 please send your information directly via postal or electronic mail to Don Miller, financial secretary. (pdf)(doc)

Time Stewardship Worksheet - No matter how hard we try to find more, there are still only 24 hours in a day. How do you spend them? In a spirit of abundance, or scarcity? Does the way you spend your time resources reflect your understanding of stewardship and your faith commitments? This worksheet will help you reflect on your time priorities and ponder areas of potential growth. (pdf)(doc)

Sharing our Time, Energy, and Abilities Survey - On our commitment Sunday September 4th we will  also consider the ways we might support the vision and ongoing ministry of our congregation through our resources of time, energy, and ability. There will be some time during our worship gathering to complete this survey, but you can also look over it beforehand to prayerfully consider how you will take part in our shared ministry as a church. If you will not be in worship on Sept. 4th please send your completed survey to the church office via postal or electronic mail.(pdf)(doc)