Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

In the Episcopal Churches of Piscataquis County, Maine where I serve as a priest, stewardship is not a season, a few weeks in the fall when we consider how much money to give in the coming year. Stewardship not just the dollar amount we fill in on our pledge card every fall as we begin to plan for the coming fiscal year. Stewardship is not some onerous duty that we undertake so that we won’t be embarrassed when we fill out that line on the parochial report about “signed pledge cards.”

It has taken some time, but now stewardship is understood as a habit that informs our decisions about how we use all the blessings we have received from God.

Our pledge card includes space for commitments of both money and time. They fulfill the nonmonetary portion of their pledge in a variety of creative ways: by volunteering in the thrift shop and food pantry, cleaning the church, doing routine maintenance around the church property, providing transportation to those who can no longer drive, administrative support and pastoral care. Our pledge card invites us to promise to pray for our congregation and regularly participate in Sunday worship. Stewardship is an expression of our faith in God’s ability to provide, our gratitude for all the ways we have been blessed, and our priorities in Christian mission in the poorest county in Maine. Stewardship is grounded in the belief that blessings are never just for ourselves alone; blessings are meant to be shared. I’ve been with these congregations for twelve years, and they still manage to surprise me with new ways of being generous.

At St. Augustine’s in Dover-Foxcroft, many gardeners bring in flowers for the altar and vegetables to be shared with those in our congregation who can no longer maintain gardens for themselves. When I returned from vacation in August, I was amused when one man, I’ll call him “Joe,” started arriving every Sunday bearing summer squash.

I noticed that he is very particular about the weekly recipients of his squash. This past week, he made a point of giving one to the elderly woman who lives alone and had to have her cat euthanized last Monday, another to a woman whose Alzheimer’s makes him very uncomfortable.

And one to me.

A great big, overgrown, lumpy-skinned summer squash that curves at the top so it looks a little like a swan. What on earth was I going to do with this thing? I smiled graciously and thanked him for his offering as he went and sat in his pew, smiling enigmatically. I put the squash in my office and didn’t think much more about it until coffee hour when I finally stopped long enough for him to tell me the whole story.

Joe started worshiping with us a few years ago. It was immediately clear that Joe had some mental health challenges. This congregation is usually very good at welcoming and incorporating newcomers, but it took a little longer than usual for them to adjust to some of Joe’s quirks. Fortunately, “Bob” took Joe under his wing and helped him feel safe and involved, even giving up one of his own ministries so that Joe would have a way to participate in Sunday worship.

And apparently, last year Bob gave Joe a summer squash.

What none of us knew at the time is that when Joe got home that Sunday afternoon, he didn’t just mindlessly slice it up, steam it and enjoy it with his dinner. No, for Joe, this simple gift from a church friend was too important for that.

Joe cut open the squash, carefully scooped out the seeds, rinsed them off, spread them out on newspaper to dry, and saved them through the winter. Then, this spring, he started his own garden, an entire plot dedicated to summer squash. He beamed as he told me this story, and then said, “And I give one-tenth of all my squash away.” He gives them away because he wants to share with others the simple joy he felt when he received his squash from Bob last year.

Where is the line on the Parochial Report where I report “squash tithe”?

Nancy Moore is the vicar of the Episcopal Churches of Piscataquis County in the Diocese of Maine and a substitute teacher in the local elementary school. Last December she agreed to serve on the Diocesan Finance Committee and was pleasantly surprised to discover that budget building can be spiritually rewarding.

Resources

• Attack of the Squash People, a poem by Marge Piercy

• Episcopal Churches of Piscataquis County Pledge Card

• Messy Church: Generosity