The first and best answer any host will give is, “Bring yourself!” It’s the best answer, even when God is the host of the party. Bring yourself, your whole self to the feast. And yes, there will be a feast or two this year. Too often in life, the most important opportunities, the most hopeful possibilities, become transactional. “I’ll do this for you, if you do that for me.” But not all of life is a transaction. Sometimes something comes our way without conditions and contingencies attached – a complete gift. “Come, I will heal you, feed you, save you,” Jesus says and does.

Nothing in a stewardship campaign changes that, nor should it. The offer is extended to bring your whole self into the life of St. John’s. Your physical self, your emotional self, your intellectual self, even your troubled self comes without any transactional next step required. Jesus saw to that in all he said and, especially, in all he did. There is something that might come next, springing either quite naturally, and/or trained into you to do. That is to respond to this gracious invitation with gratitude, asking the question: “What shall I bring?”

It’s the opportunity of a relational response, not a transactional one, a response that springs forth from gratitude, from appreciation, from heartfelt love. Can we put to final rest the notion that stewardship is only about your money? It is about your money, but also so much more. A “whole person response” is what God hopes for, and the church has developed practices - spiritual, financial, and personal - to help us work out and develop our relationship with God with the underlying hope that you can have a deeper sense of gratitude by responding.

In relational response and through increased engagement, you will have opportunity this stewardship season to bring your time, your experience and expertise, and your financial resources.

We hope you will experience our 2024 General Fund campaign and Time & Talent recruitment for the relational opportunity it is. “What shall I bring?” Your whole self – always. The age-old practices of stewardship can change you from the inside out, for the better, offering, tithing, showing up for worship and celebrations, and to assist our neighbors in need.

So, “What shall I bring?”

Bring your whole self, which is a right response to God’s gracious love, and what our neighbors need from us most in this world God loves so very much.

Throughout October, we’ll center our time around the season of stewardship through worship, faith formation, and community gatherings. We hope to see you at one of our Community Stewardship Dinners, October 10th, and 11th, or in our adult faith formation opportunities on Sunday mornings at 10:15am. At the end of the month, we’ll invite you to pledge your time, talent, and treasure to this St. John’s community as we continue to embody our mission of Living God’s Love in the World.

Blessing and peace in this ongoing question – “What shall I bring?”