Trinity Lutheran Church
Cody, Wyoming
Cody, Wyoming
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Trinity Lutheran Church ELCA
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Trinity. The middle of the year is typically when
the council looks at the finances of the church
just to see how things are going. At our last
council meeting it was noted offering was up
over last year which is good. It is also needed as
this year the congregation voted to not only hire
a part-time office manager, but also to take on a
mortgage payment for the new parsonage.
Therefore, more income is needed. Now that I
have stated the obvious I am going to discuss
biblical stewardship and tell you “biblical
stewardship has nothing to do with the
finances of the church. Biblical stewardship
IS about our faith life.” Yes, the church does
need money to function BUT if this is the only
reason people give then I argue there is a
misunderstanding of what biblical stewardship is.
I struggled with stewardship for many years. I
even left the church for a while because I felt
the $5 a week I was giving made me unworthy
to be in relationship with the church and God.
Notice the “I felt.” It is quite possible I used
giving as a reason to try to hide from God. I am
ever so thankful God seeks us out, finds us, and
calls us back to Him on a constant basis. Once
actively working with God to get my faith life in
order I started thinking more about stewardship.
My time, my talent and my money. I worked
towards saying “yes” more often and giving
more from my blessings. It wasn’t until I was
actually tithing my income and called to be a
pastor, that I read Mark Allan Powell’s book
“Giving to God.” Reading this book, given to me
by a parishioner, helped stewardship make
sense to me.
Powell writes stewardship is “a joy filled aspect
of our relationship with God and describes giving
to God as an act of worship, an expression of
faith, and a discipline for spiritual growth.” When
I read this statement I was able to look back
over my life and find the truths in this statement.
The time in my life when I was giving $5 and felt
it wasn’t enough, was actually a time of
sacrificial giving. What I mean by that is I was
the council looks at the finances of the church
just to see how things are going. At our last
council meeting it was noted offering was up
over last year which is good. It is also needed as
this year the congregation voted to not only hire
a part-time office manager, but also to take on a
mortgage payment for the new parsonage.
Therefore, more income is needed. Now that I
have stated the obvious I am going to discuss
biblical stewardship and tell you “biblical
stewardship has nothing to do with the
finances of the church. Biblical stewardship
IS about our faith life.” Yes, the church does
need money to function BUT if this is the only
reason people give then I argue there is a
misunderstanding of what biblical stewardship is.
I struggled with stewardship for many years. I
even left the church for a while because I felt
the $5 a week I was giving made me unworthy
to be in relationship with the church and God.
Notice the “I felt.” It is quite possible I used
giving as a reason to try to hide from God. I am
ever so thankful God seeks us out, finds us, and
calls us back to Him on a constant basis. Once
actively working with God to get my faith life in
order I started thinking more about stewardship.
My time, my talent and my money. I worked
towards saying “yes” more often and giving
more from my blessings. It wasn’t until I was
actually tithing my income and called to be a
pastor, that I read Mark Allan Powell’s book
“Giving to God.” Reading this book, given to me
by a parishioner, helped stewardship make
sense to me.
Powell writes stewardship is “a joy filled aspect
of our relationship with God and describes giving
to God as an act of worship, an expression of
faith, and a discipline for spiritual growth.” When
I read this statement I was able to look back
over my life and find the truths in this statement.
The time in my life when I was giving $5 and felt
it wasn’t enough, was actually a time of
sacrificial giving. What I mean by that is I was
| Pastor's Notes |
| February 2012 Pastor Audrey's Notes |
had to give because I felt I HAD to so the church
could pay the bills. There was no joy. There was
no thought about what God was giving me at the
time … two jobs, income enough that I could
give $5 a week. There was no realization that
even by giving $5 a week my children were fed
and warm at night. We never went without our
daily bread. We might have lived without cable
television and dinners out, but never without our
When we change our attitude about giving from
paying the bills to worship, expression of faith a
discipline for spiritual growth giving does turn
into joy. When we acknowledge we belong to
Christ, and everything we have comes from God
and when we live life as a gift given to us by
God, then giving is a joy because we are
responding to what we have been given. Giving
can grow our trust that God does provide. Giving
can grow our faith because we are spending
more time being Christ centered, using our time,
talents and money.
The next time you are asked to use your time
and talents by volunteering stop and ask
yourself; Is my response in joy for what God has
given me or is it out of duty? Am I being honest
in acknowledging my blessings or am I
attempting to hide from God? I believe when we
ask ourselves these questions and respond
accordingly, our blessings in life become more
apparent.
In Christ,
Pastor Audrey
could pay the bills. There was no joy. There was
no thought about what God was giving me at the
time … two jobs, income enough that I could
give $5 a week. There was no realization that
even by giving $5 a week my children were fed
and warm at night. We never went without our
daily bread. We might have lived without cable
television and dinners out, but never without our
When we change our attitude about giving from
paying the bills to worship, expression of faith a
discipline for spiritual growth giving does turn
into joy. When we acknowledge we belong to
Christ, and everything we have comes from God
and when we live life as a gift given to us by
God, then giving is a joy because we are
responding to what we have been given. Giving
can grow our trust that God does provide. Giving
can grow our faith because we are spending
more time being Christ centered, using our time,
talents and money.
The next time you are asked to use your time
and talents by volunteering stop and ask
yourself; Is my response in joy for what God has
given me or is it out of duty? Am I being honest
in acknowledging my blessings or am I
attempting to hide from God? I believe when we
ask ourselves these questions and respond
accordingly, our blessings in life become more
apparent.
In Christ,
Pastor Audrey
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