Stewardship of God’s Love
During the 2020–21 program year, LCH continues on our journey of “year-round” stewardship under the theme “Stewards of God’s Love.” We begin with the realization that God comes down, in the person of Jesus Christ, to be in loving relationship with us. Next, we look in to discover all of the resources/gifts that God has entrusted to our care. Finally, we look out to see the many ways God calls us to use our resources/gifts to love our neighbors near and far.
- December: Introducing our Theme—The Stewardship Team introduced the theme and talked about how “We are stewards of this story that begins with God coming down or love coming down, to be with us.” Read the entire article….
- January: God Comes Down: Stewards of God’s Grace—The Stewardship Team “follow[ed] the story as Jesus is revealed to the Magi and then journeys to his baptism by John in the Jordan. … Just as God claimed Jesus as ‘my Son, the Beloved’ at his baptism in the Jordan, God graciously claimed each of us as children of God at our own baptisms.” Remembering “God’s grace that calls us children of God, we ask ourselves questions like…how does ‘belonging to God’ shape the way that we live our lives?” Read the entire article….
- February: God Comes Down: Stewards of God’s Creation—The Stewardship Team observed “One way the LCH community is stewarding God’s creation on the LCH grounds is by creating a Community Garden, Vicar Bree’s internship project, which has been adopted by your Stewardship Team as a focus activity for February.” Read the entire article….
- March: Looking In: Stewards of Stuff—Writing for the Stewardship Team, Willow Chang discussed “looking in to discover all the resources that God has entrusted to our care…{and]…considering our role as Stewards of Stuff.” She concludes that “by shifting of our attention away from consumption and the habits we clinging to, we become better stewards of the stuff entrusted to us, and we experience grace, where our actions embrace the abundant, meaningful, and joyous Spirit of God.” Read the entire article….
- April: Looking In: Stewards of Money—Writing for the Stewardship Team, Willow Chang and Bill Potter observed that “The money we have (or don’t have) is much less tangible [than the stuff we considered in March], but it is no less real than the physical stuff around us, and the hold it can have on us can be even stronger.” They asked us to consider how each of us align our use of money with our values. Read the entire article….
- May: Looking In: Stewards of Talents—Writing for the Stewardship Team, Phyllis Hörmann asked us to consider “our role as stewards of the unique gifts and talents God has given each of us.” She shared her own journey as she discovered her personal gifts and her vocation and hoped we might “all grow as stewards of the vocations God has entrusted to us.” Read the entire article….
- June: Looking In: Stewards of Talents, Part 2—Writing for the Stewardship Team, Barbara Poole-Street told a story about how a challenge by a former pastor led her into a new vacation. She end by saying “my life is much fuller because of this unexpected vocation, and I am so grateful that I was led to ponder whether I could do more. I had placed unnecessary limitations upon myself, not believing that we are supported in our journey. I urge you to also consider whether there is another vocation waiting for you to discover.” Read the entire article….
- July: Moving Out: Stewards of Justice—Writing for the Stewardship Team, Willow Chang insisted that “As followers of Jesus and believers in the Good News, we are called to seek and pursue justice. But I’ve found that mouthing a slogan pales in comparison to acting on it.” Read the entire article….
- August: Moving Out: Stewards of the Local Community—Writing for the Stewardship Team, Peggy Anderson and Bill Potter noted that “God has called us to love and serve our neighbors, both near and far. And God entrusts us—both as individuals and as a congregation—with the resources needed to serve our neighbors.” Read the entire article….
- September: Moving Out: Stewards of the Global Community—Writing for the Stewardship Team, Phyllis Hörmann and Bill Potter considered “how we can be stewards of our global community using the resources that God has entrusted to us. Sometimes it can seem more difficult to relate to the distant neighbor we cannot see than to those we see around us every day. However, LCH has a history of reaching around to care through national and international Lutheran agencies and other faith organizations.” Read the entire article….
- October: Grateful Stewards of God’s Love—Each member of the Stewardship Team reflected on “the ways we are grateful for what we—both as individuals and working together as part of this congregation—have been able to do with the blessings we have received from God.” Read the entire article…. Commitment Materials
- November: Committing Ourselves as Stewards of God’s Grace—The Stewardship Team challenged us to “stretch in new ways as you give thanks to God for blessings received and continue to use your time, talents, and treasure…to grow spiritually, broaden our community outreach and in-reach, care for the earth, grow our congregation in various ways, and expand our music and arts activities. All of this moves us forward in our mission.” Read the entire article….