Stewardship

St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church

3550 SW Loop 820

Fort Worth, TX 76133

817.926.8277

Stewardship at St. Christopher

Stewardship is the time we share, the skills we use and the money we give to our church and our daily lives. We strive to practice the biblical tithe and return to God a tenth of all that we earn, but we avoid judging ourselves and others for success or failure in meeting this goal. In whatever ways we proclaim our intent to be stewards of God's wealth, it is always our joy to be the people of God. We share what we have to thank God for acting in our lives. "The Mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and with each other in Christ" and that "the Church carries out its mission through the ministry of all its members."

How Can We Support St. Christopher?

Prayer. Every member can pray for St. Christopher and the "Right Use of God's Gifts."

St. Christopher Stewardship Prayer

"Almighty God, In You we live and move and have our being, all we have comes from you. We come to you now in faith, ready to respond with generosity to the challenge of providing for the present and future needs of our parish family. Help us who have received so freely from You to give as freely in return. May Your goodness be upon us and bring success to our labors. All this we ask in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen."

Time and Talent. Within the life of St.Christopher, there are many opportunities for members to contribute their time and talent. We might work with children, or the elderly. We might take a leadership role in the parish. We might take part in worship, as an acolyte, lay reader or Eucharistic minister. We might sing in the choir, or help maintain the facilities. We might even think of something that we're not doing today, and start a new program. The opportunities are endless. Please review the Ministries Page and complete the Time and Talent Survey to let us know where you want to be involved at St. Christopher.

Financial Support. St. Christopher also needs our financial support. Every autumn, the Finance Committee develops a budget for the upcoming year for Vestry approval. During the budget-making process, the plans and goals for the year are balanced against the expected income. St. Christopher depends on the voluntary offerings of its membership to maintain the facilities, pay the staff and carry out the mission and ministries of the parish. Our contribution, large or small, helps keep the parish going. Members of the parish offer financial contributions in different ways. Some members give once a year; most give weekly or monthly. Some members mail in their offerings; most add them to the plate on Sunday morning. Some direct their gifts to special purposes - the Flower Fund, Mission and Outreach, or the Rector's Discretionary Fund; most contribute to the Operating Fund of the Parish. Some members contribute anonymously, by putting cash in the plate on Sunday. Most write a check or identify their gift in other ways. How and how much each choose to contribute to St. Christopher is up to each of us. Our support, though, is very valuable.

Should I Pledge to St. Christopher? Only you can answer this question. Our pledge is a serious commitment to the parish: a promise that we intend to provide a certain level of financial support in the next year. We might feel that our situation makes it impossible to commit to a specific level of giving. On the other hand, our pledge is vital to St. Christopher, because we depend on it to plan for the future. Our pledge is the most important building block of the budget - at St. Christopher, pledges account for about 90% of the budgeted operating income. Our pledge is important! Please fill out and return the Pledge Card and Prayer and place it in the offering plate or mail it to the Parish Office.

The following links provide more readings on Stewardship.

Established in 1957

“Celebrating 50 Years of Ministry in 2007”

Stewardship

“Celebrating 50 Years of Caring” Video

by Tim Baker