Such Great Heights

Reflecting on the topic “generosity”, my mind turns to stewardship and unselfishly sharing of our blessings with others.  Each of us individually is called to be a goog steward of the many blessings God has bestowed on us. In an Episcopal congregation, members of the vestry elected by the congregation have another particular stewardship responsibility in their canonical roles as “...constituted agents of the Church…” charged with transacting the temporal business of the congregation. In the fulfillment of this responsibility, sound business judgement and practices, timely and unambiguous communications with the congregation, and discernment of God’s will and the best interests of the Congregation are all crucial.

Toward this end, I like to respectfully suggest that an agenda be published to the Congregation prior to each Vestry meeting and a detailed summary of Vestry actions be published to the Congregation within a reaonable time following each Vestry meeting. Perhaps these could be included on our web site. These actions which would seem to be fairly easy and inexpensive to implement would, in my opinion, serve to strengthen the degree to which each member of the Congregation is able to take a more personal interest in our temporal affairs. In the process, I can imagine a favorable impact on our annual giving campaign by better educating the Congregation about our collective financial needs and challenges as well as how the Vestry’s exercise of good stewardship enhances our ability to serve Christ.