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"Every faculty you have, Your power of thinking or of moving your limbs from moment to moment,
is given to you by God. If you devoted every moment of your whole life exclusively to His service,
You could not give Him anything that was not in a sense His own already."
~ C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
 
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HOW DO I BECOME A SUSTAINING STEWARD?

First, fill out this
Family Information Form 

(first-time or annual update)

Then,
 Submit Your Recurring Pledge Here 

________________________________

2023 STEWARDSHIP ARCHIVES 
December Update
November Update
October Update
September Update
August Update
July Update
June Update
May Update
April Update
 


WHAT IS STEWARDSHIP?

Stewardship is the giving of your time, talent, and treasure, while requiring neither perfect participation in its ministries nor a minimum financial commitment. Stewardship is biblical, which teaches The Four Fundamental Principles of Stewardship: 

  1. God created and owns everything.  Everything we are and have is a gift from God (Ownership).
    [Psalm 24:1; Deuteronomy 8:28]

  2. We have been entrusted with managing and administering His gifts, making us Stewards. Therefore, giving Stewardship is the act of commiting of ourselves and our possessions to advance the Ministry of Christ to others (Responsibility). 
    [Mt. 25:14-30]

  3. Having been entrusted with this sacred responsibility, the Parable of the Talents reveals that each of us will be called to give an account of how we managed His gifts. (Accountability). 
    [Mt. 25:14-30]

  4. St. Paul reminds us, "whatever [we] do, work it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for man, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving." (Reward)  
    [Colossians 3:23-24; Prov. 18:16; Lk. 6:38

WHO IS A MEMBER?

A member of the Orthodox Church is any person baptized and chrismated according to the rites of the Eastern Orthodox Church. However, not every member is Steward.


WHO IS THE STEWARD?

A Steward is any baptized Orthodox Christian who is 18 years or older, is self-supporting, desires to assume responsibility for the church, and commits their time, talentand treasure to advance the Church's sacred mission.

These three commitments collectively represent one's Stewardship and are often expressive of one's Active faith.  However, not every Steward is an Active Steward.


WHO IS THE ACTIVE STEWARD?

The Active Steward is actively living their faith.  They don’t merely give of their treasure. They also give their time regularly attending Divine Liturgy and other worship services; they regularly participate in Holy Communion, Holy Unction, and Holy Confession; they spend their time in, and offer their talent to, the ministries and needs of the church, respectively; and they try to adhere to and live according to the teachings of the Orthodox Christian Faith.

This active steward is often called a “member in good standing.”


WHAT IS TREASURE?

Treasure is the accumulation of wealth through one's work, profession, talents, gifts, and inheritance.

There are no fees, dues, or set minimums.  All that is asked of you is to give regularly and to be faithful to the scriptural command to give a percentage of what you have received from our Lord to SUSTAIN His beloved church and her ministries.

[Nehemiah 10:35-371 Corinthians 16:2; Gen. 14:19-20; Lev. 27:30; Malachi 3:10;]

Most important, remember that each current or potential steward is encouraged to give only according to their means and heart.

[Numbers 18:28Deuteronomy 14:22; 16:172 Corinthians 8:12; 9:6-8] 


WHAT DOES YOUR STEWARDSHIP SUPPORT?

Stewardship supports the complete and total church budget, without the help of fundraisers.

Specifically, it supports in reach, outreach, religious education, young adult life, spiritual life events that include retreat offerings, youth programs, our multi-generational ministries, and the church’s general operations, which itself supports the National Ministries of our Archdiocese, our Metropolis of New Jersey, and related institutions.


WHEN IS THE PROGRAM?

Our annual Stewardship Program necessitates your support for the whole fiscal year beginning in January. Therefore, communications begin each November and continue intermittently. However, new members and lapsed current members may submit a pledge when they are ready to become involved and/or begin giving stewardship again.


OUR GOAL

Our three (3) overarching Stewardship Goals as a Church family are:

1.    Faithfully Fulfill God’s Stewardship Command to Give
       [Gen. 2:15; Lev. 25:1-5; 2 Chron. 31:12; Ps. 24:1]

2.    Consistent, Regular, & Increased Giving and

3.    Participation from ALL our members.

OUR ULTIMATE GOAL
100% Member Participation
100% Total Stewardship-funded Budget.

Currently, 300 of our 480 member families are Active Stewards, and their financial stewardship covers 55% of the TOTAL parish budget.

So how do we achieve this goal of 100%? 


OUR SUSTAINING STEWARDSHIP INITIATIVE

Sustaining Stewardship is a simple, scripturally consistent, and practical initiative to meet our above Stewardship Giving goals.

This initiative asks parishioners to financially support the church by giving a portion of their treasure through automatic and recurring stewardship payments. This member and steward who enrolls in these payments is a Sustaining Steward.

A Sustaining Steward commits to stay engaged continuously and support the church through regular weekly or monthly payments. A Sustaining Steward’s pledge rolls over to the following year without filling out a pledge card each year. A Sustaining Steward can adjust their pledge anytime to reflect their level of commitment or personal/family situation.


WHY BECOME A SUSTAINING STEWARD?
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS
OF SUSTAINING STEWARDSHIP?

Becoming a Sustaining Steward (1) fulfills God’s command to give faithfully and regularly. As a sustaining steward, your enrollment and giving (2) rolls over annually, eliminating the need to re-register and re-pledge every year. This automatic and recurring giving also (3) helps the church address seasonal funding gaps and (4) helps us achieve festival independence, allowing us to save more. 

Ultimately, it (5) creates better ministry and budgetary planning, and (6) helps support our church, its ministries, and their growth.


HOW DO I BECOME A SUSTAINING STEWARD?

  1. First, fill out this Family Information Form. 
    (first-time or annual update, if necessary)

  2. If you are already signed up for recurring payments through our VANCO Webpage, The App StoreGoogle Play, or your bank's bill payer service, then you are already a Sustaining Steward! You only need to update your scheduled contributions to reflect your new level of commitment for 2023. If you have an end date on your scheduled contributions, please enter a new schedule to reflect your new level of commitment for 2023. If you don't have an end date, please delete your current schedule and set up a new contributions schedule to reflect your new level of commitment.

  3. If not, Submit Your Pledge Here 

    (Auto-pay from a debit card, credit card, or checking account through Vanco
    ; personal check; or your bank’s bill-payer service)



We offer you the Weekly Giving Guideline chart below to help you determine your level of giving.

Being a good steward is using your resources wisely.

Weekly Income 
10%
5%
4%
2%
$500

$50

$25

$20

$10

$750

$75

$37

$30

$15

$1000

$100

$50

$40

$20

$1500

$150

$75

$60

$30

$2000

$200

$100

$80

$40