STEWARDSHIP SUNDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2024
"Your Own from Your Own We Offer You"
“…but make me worthy, Your sinful and unworthy servant, to offer these Gifts unto You. For You are the Offeror and the Offered, Who accepts and is distributed, O Christ our God….”
-Priestly prayers before Holy Communion
A little boy asked his father, “Daddy, can I have ten dollars?” The father, wanting to understand, told the boy, “Yes, but can you tell me what you plan to do with ten dollars?” The little boy replied quietly, “Daddy, I need the money to buy you a present.”
We are not so different from that little boy. In every Divine Liturgy, when our gifts of bread and wine are blessed and lifted up in offering to God our Father, we hear the words, "Your own from Your own we offer to You." We acknowledge that, just like the little boy buying a gift for his father, everything we have and everything we offer to God first comes from Him. In the Divine Liturgy, we offer bread and wine to God with thanksgiving. He returns them to us as His body and blood in Holy Communion as we receive Jesus Christ within us.
See Our Church as It Could Be
One church member was heard to say, “I just want the church to be here long enough to have my funeral here.” This is a church in survival mode, just paying the bills. We ask, “What does it cost?” “What are the dues?” “How much do I owe?” These are earthly questions. A better question would be, “What can I give so that my church can become all it is meant to be – the Body of Christ on earth.” With a vision for the future of our parish, we can say, “I want the church to be here for my grandchildren’s grandchildren.”
As Orthodox Christians, we see the world as God’s gift, a sacrament of God’s presence, and a means of communion with Him. This way, we can offer back to God, in thanksgiving and love, the many gifts we receive from Him. Like the boy in the New Testament who offered five loaves and two fish, and Jesus multiplied them to feed the 5,000, God receives our humble gifts and multiplies them to feed the world.
When we see a great need in our community and the world, we may ask, “If God is so loving, then why is there so much poverty and suffering in the world? Where is God when we need Him?” Sometimes, the need is so overwhelming that helping at all seems impossible, but in the miracle of the five loaves and two fish, we are taught to offer what we have, no matter the amount, and miracles will happen.
So, with our church, we often imagine only what is humanly possible. If we do our part in faith, God will lovingly return to us much more than we could ever imagine. This is the true meaning of “Your own from Your own.” We will see our church not as it is but as it could be, with our humble gifts multiplied by God’s generosity and love. With our faithful offering, we will see in our church as they did in the early Church, “…the Lord added to their number daily, those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47).
“This Ekklesia exists when the dispersed, divided, self-preoccupied people unite and become a family, where people see one another as brothers and sisters with God as their common father, and try to share whatever they have and whatever they are, and be united in heart and soul.”
-Fr. Philotheos Faros in Functional and Dysfunctional Christianity
HOW DO I BECOME A SUSTAINING STEWARD in 2025?
Return the 2025 Time Talent & Treasure Card you received in the mail by Stewardship Sunday, December 1. Alternatively, you may skip the paper card and submit your pledge electronically here:
- Fill out this Family Information Form (first-time or annual update, if necessary)
- If you are already signed up for recurring payments through our VANCO page, The App Store / Google Play, or your bank's bill payer service, you are already a Sustaining Steward! You only need to update your scheduled contributions to reflect your new level of commitment for 2025. If you have an end-date on your scheduled contributions, please enter a new schedule to reflect your new level of commitment for 2025. 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.
- If not, Submit Your Pledge Here (Autopay from a debit card, credit card, or checking account through Vanco. You can also set it up through your bank’s bill-payer service or send personal checks)
Annunciation/Evangelismos is a full stewardship parish requiring no minimum pledge to be a Steward
Our Stewardship Program encourages parishioners 18 and over to pledge and contribute according to the blessings they have received from our Lord.
Our Stewardship Pledge Drive starts in November for the following calendar year, although new and current members may complete a Stewardship Card anytime.
Our 2025 Annual Budget is $580,000.00.
With 300 supporting families, it averages $1,900 per year, $160 per month, $36 per week, or $5.25 per day per family to fund our budget entirely through Stewardship.
Please consider these amounts and adjust them to your means as you make your 2025 Stewardship Commitment.
2024 MONTHLY STEWARDSHIP UPDATES and COMMUNICATIONS
WHAT IS STEWARDSHIP?
Stewardship is giving 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:
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God created and owns everything. Everything we are and have is a gift from God (Ownership).
[Psalm 24:1; Deuteronomy 8:28]
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We have been entrusted with managing and administering His gifts, making us Stewards. Therefore, giving Stewardship is the act of committing ourselves and our possessions to advance the Ministry of Christ to others (Responsibility).
[Mt. 25:14-30] -
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] -
St. Paul reminds us, "Whatever [we] do, work it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for man since you know 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 a 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, talent, and 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 offer 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 accumulating wealth through 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 10:35-37; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Gen. 14:19-20; Lev. 27:30; Malachi 3:10;]
Most importantly, remember that each current or potential steward is encouraged to give only according to their means and heart.
[Numbers 18:28; Deuteronomy 14:22; 16:17; 2 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 440+ member families are Active Stewards, and their financial stewardship covers 55% of the total parish budget.
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 staying engaged continuously and supporting 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?
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 in 2025?
Return your 2025 Time Talent & Treasure Card you have received in the mail by Stewardship Suday, December 1. Alternatively, you may skip the paper card and submit your pledge electronically here:
-
Fill out this Family Information Form (first-time or annual update, if necessary)
-
If you are already signed up for recurring payments through our VANCO page, The App Store / Google Play, or your bank's bill payer service, you are already a Sustaining Steward! You only need to update your scheduled contributions to reflect your new level of commitment for 2025. If you have an end-date on your scheduled contributions, please enter a new schedule to reflect your new level of commitment for 2025. 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.
-
If not, Submit Your Pledge Here (Autopay from a debit card, credit card, or checking account through Vanco. You can also set it up through your bank’s bill-payer service or send personal checks)
