Pastor Chuck Steinke was the synod’s stewardship director prior to
me. At the time, I was glad that I
didn’t have to do all that stewardship preaching. Besides the occasional pastor’s installation,
it seemed like preaching and teaching sound stewardship practices was all that
he did. I liked the greater variety that
my portfolio afforded me.
When Pastor Steinke left the synod staff, Bishop Wollersheim tapped me to take
over as stewardship director. Soon I was
preaching and teaching stewardship most of the time. It’s not that stewardship wasn’t a passion of
mine. I was just afraid that serving as
stewardship director would be somehow limiting.
After I had been preaching and teaching stewardship for four years, the
ELCA created the position of Director of Evangelical Mission, with a job
description that included stewardship.
Pastor Kurt Nordby joined our staff as our DEM and I passed the stewardship
baton to him. My job description once
again included a lot of variety. To my
surprise, I missed the stewardship work!
I had found it to be much more fulfilling than I had anticipated. I told Kurt that he could count on me to help in any way I could.
Fortunately, I am still called upon throughout the year and especially
each fall to do some stewardship preaching.
In my preaching, I often tell the
story of how I learned to be a good steward.
It began humbly in Sunday school and has continued to the present
day. I am still learning how to be
generous. In fact, I think a lot about
what it takes to actually be generous. For
me, generosity is marked by unselfish, sacrificial giving.
I have learned to tell my stewardship story by listening to the stories of
others. We need to hear those stories in
worship on Sundays. As a pastor, I have
had the privilege of hearing faith stories around kitchen tables, in circle
meetings, in small groups, and in my office; but I have heard precious few in
worship. Whether we call them temple
talks, testimonies, faith stories, or something else, we need to hear each
other’s stories. We would benefit from
hearing how God is at work in the lives of others. I think we would all become much more
comfortable in talking about our faith if we just practiced a little. What better place than in the midst of your
own congregation?
Can your congregation make room in its worship for faith stories? Are you willing to tell your own story? Are you willing to hear the stories of others?
At First, Rock Island, we have included faith stories or temple talks in our fall Stewardship Emphasis for many years. This year, we used the program, "Walking with Jesus," and had 3 temple talks, one at the beginning of worship over 3 Sundays. Each had a different topic, using examples from the viewpoint of the member of the congregation who was speaking. I think that we would miss these talks if we didn't have them at worship.
ReplyDeleteWanda Esping, First, Rock Island