Generosity?

For the past few months, a few of us from Council have been attending a generosity seminar sponsored by the Delaware-Maryland Synod. We have discussed ways in which we are generous and ways that we can encourage generosity. We have even taken a try at creating a generosity statement to share with Council and the congregation. Before the statement can actually be evaluated we are invited by the facilitator to consider questions like:

What is generosity?
What am I thankful for?
Why do I give to the church?

The idea is to create a culture of year round generosity. Generosity is more than giving of financial resources - as important as they are. It also includes time. What sort of time does one give to the organization to which they belong? How do you interact with your fellow church goers? The depth of the questions and things to ponder keeps growing.

I would invite you to consider a few questions, and eventually as a congregation, we will commit the answers to paper.

At St. Stephen’s, what are you thankful for?

What does generosity look like in your life?

What are your dreams for the church?

As you ponder these questions, I invite you to commit the answers and thoughts to prayer. Pray for your church and its members. Pray for generosity both given and received. Pray for God to help you find ways to recognize the dreams you have for your church - and to give you the wisdom to and courage to pursue them.

Perhaps one way we can all be generous at this moment in time is through prayer for one another.

Yours in Christ,
Pastor Jason