02/07/2024 0 Comments
Why I Give/How I Decide: Nate
Why I Give/How I Decide: Nate
# News
Why I Give/How I Decide: Nate
This is the time of year at St. C's when we think about financial stewardship. Each week for the next six weeks a different parishioner will be sharing why they give, and how they decide. We invite you to join us in a time of thinking about the spiritual practice of stewarding our money, as individuals and as a community of faith.
When I was in graduate school I was required to take a couple of MBA classes for my degree program. I recall one particular lecture, where a visiting "angel investor" told us about his personal strategy for choosing which startups and businesses to invest in. To this day, I remember his advice:
"I always look for businesses that make the world more like a place I want to live in"
For him, it wasn't just the profit margin, or the promise of a massive return on investment. He just looked for businesses that made the world 'a better place', and hoped that others (potential customers) would see it the same way, rendering the business into a success.
This particular sentiment has stuck with me, and impacted my choices in my charitable giving as an adult. Our call to Christian stewardship in many ways takes a similar dynamic, but is subtly different. Whereas my millionaire investor friend looked to his own vision for the good of the world, we are called to invest in God's Kingdom, wherever we may find it.
Oftentimes we find that opportunity in the church, but not always. In past lives at other churches, I often felt conflicted about giving to the organization as I watched the resources of the body be spent primarily on inward facing goals like new sound equipment, raises for the clergy, theatrical lighting installations, or ever-expanding church properties that are empty 6 days out of the week. In these times I often found myself focusing my giving elsewhere, in community organizations or other charitable causes.
However, I find that I have no such inhibitions since coming to St. Columba's. True, maintenance of the church property is our biggest expense, our sound system is dated, and our vicar is probably long overdue for a raise, but I see our members and our leadership constantly seeking to find ways to leverage our great assets for God's Kingdom. Between our community garden, food bank, the reach out shelter, the international congregations who share our space, and the recovery groups that meet here during the week, this building is a blessing to the community, and the congregation that meets within its walls is steadfast in showing the love of Christ to our neighbors.
As we step into our season of stewardship, I encourage you to attend the annual meeting and look over the numbers presented in our budget. It's simply amazing the amount we continue to accomplish on a shoestring budget, and I think you'll find that it returns a "bang for your buck" that even the most stingy investor couldn't pass by.
For more information on this season of stewardship, click here.
Comments