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     Letter From The Rector
     Stewardship and Evangelism

Stewardship and Evangelism have been two important themes for the Diocese of Massachusetts and for our parish. As I have stressed for some time now, the two are inextricably bound together. The better we are at stewardship, the more evangelistic we become. The more evangelistic we are, the better stewards we become. The Christian Church is a proselytizing community. Jesus said, “Go into all the world and make disciples. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things as I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28: 19-20). We are called to make disciples who in turn make other disciples. We are the result of this disciple making activity. If we cease to be productive, fruit-bearing members of the body of Christ, there will be no one here to take our place when our day is done. Those who went before us understood their responsibility to blaze a trail, to chart the way, to provide for the future of the church. We now stand where they stood. We must continue to blaze the trail. We must continue to chart the way. We must continue to provide for the future.

As a collective body of believers, we have inherited many wonderful gifts, this building and the spirit of faith which inspired it, to name just a few. We have the opportunity, in fact the obligation to pass these gifts on to the next generations of Christians who will follow us. We can only do so if we follow the example of those who went before us. We must encourage others to follow Christ, to join us in our parish life, and we must be satisfied only when we have given as much, if not more than those who established this community and built this building. Those who have died have done their job. They have gone to live with God. It is now our responsibility to invite others, welcome the stranger and create a vibrant and vital parish experience.

Several years ago, as a parish, we embraced tithing as the biblical standard for giving. We are supported in this belief by the General Convention of the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Massachusetts. The Letter to the Hebrews says, “But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved” (Hebs.10:39). We must go forward believing that our faithful stewardship will yield the abundant blessings of God.

I encourage you to reflect on the many ways God has blessed your life and then to commit to a higher standard of stewardship and a more intentional style of evangelism than you have known in the past. In his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul gives us this glowing encouragement: “Glory to God whose power working in us can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever” (Ephesians 3:20).