At their September meeting, the Session approved a vision plan that I presented them, titled "Living God's Love in the World: A Vision for the First Presbyterian Church." The basic premise of the plan was that, over the next 2-3 years, three things needed to be made priorities in order for our church to faithfully move into the next phase of who God has called us to be. These are:

1. Better provide for member care through the establishment of a Board of Deacons.
2. Expand and emphasize our Christian Education program, including the hiring of a full time Director of CE or Associate Pastor for CE.
3. Train the congregation to personally engage in mission activity through the establishment of mission covenant groups.

As the Session talked, prayed and discerned God's guidance something became very clear: If we want to be faithful to who God has called us to be as a church, we must intentionally commit ourselves to specific priorities. I believe that this idea of "intentionally committing" one's self to something is a great way to speak of stewardship.

For too long in the church, when someone said "stewardship" everyone thought of a pledge form and the Stewardship Committee standing up in church and making everyone feel bad because they aren't giving enough. I believe that it is time for a new understanding. Instead of "giving money" we need to begin to think of stewardship as the process by which we intentionally commit ourselves to the mission and ministry of the church.

To be sure, that will involve our "cash", but it will also involve our volunteer time. Did you know that the CE committee struggled (and is still struggling) to recruit enough teachers for children's Sunday School and Wednesday Night Live? Did you know that, when it snows or freezes, there are only one or two people that come in to clear the sidewalks?

Stewardship is about setting priorities. Stewardship is how we say that we are a part of the Body of Christ. We can claim that we are good Christian folk till the cows come home, but the true measure of our faith is whether or not we set the work of the Lord as a priority in our lives. As we begin our stewardship discussion this year, be in serious prayer about how God has called you to be a part of this community.

Our God is a good God and I know that the work we have been called to do is exciting. I pray that you want to be a part of it.