Cheryl Notari

I didn’t have an allowance as a child. My parents didn’t believe in it. All members of the house did their share according to their abilities and talents. My brothers and I took turns washing dishes, sweeping the floor, vacuuming the carpets and dusting the furniture. We didn’t always like it, but we did it with little or no complaint because my parents taught us that that is what being part of a family is about. I had the added duty of decorating for holidays as I had a talent for arts and crafts. Decorating made me feel confident and needed.

And as a child, I believed without a doubt that God would provide for me. I believed in the Gospel when Jesus said to his anxious disciples

"And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!"

Mathew 6:25-30

I knew that as a family we didn’t have a lot but we had enough. I never felt that I didn’t have all that I needed even if it wasn’t always all that I wanted. Yet as I got older and started to earn my own money, I began to lose my confidence in God’s promise. I began to worry about having enough. I worried that I won’t have enough money for college, enough money for gasoline and clothes. And at one point in graduate school, I even worried about having enough money for food. I was never in any real danger of starving, it was more my pride that was in danger. I did not want to go back to my parents and ask for help.

As I grew older, I never lost the sense that all members of the family should do their part to support each other. And as a member of the St. George’s family, I find it easy to give of my time and hopefully my talents. I consider it my share of the work of the community and the work of God. That part of stewardship has always made the most sense to me. The part of stewardship that is a little harder for me is parting with my treasure. Like the disciples that Jesus was speaking to in the above passage, I am anxious about having enough. I worry as many people do that we will have enough for this bill or that bill. Yet, I try to remember the abundance promised and how it felt as a child to trust in God so completely. And then I remember the words of Jesus, "where your treasure is, so shall your heart be." With that, I relax and I can give financially knowing that God’s family will benefit.

Cheryl Notari

Tom Savoth

I believe that when I fill out my pledge card or write a check to pay my pledge that I communicate with God in a most intimate and personal way. In my choice to give and sacrifice my limited resources to stewardship, I am thanking God for how I’ve been blessed and making a statement about what I believe is the right and good way to live my life. I will also admit that I am asking for prayers to be answered, some for the greater good and some that benefit me personally. I question if the latter is entirely consistent with what I want my motivations for Stewardship to be, but I admit that I am human when I do it.

I believe that it makes sense to understand Stewardship; pay attention to it and be at peace and reconciled with God about it. I believe Stewardship is central to why we are here at St Georges and what we are called to do. And I believe in a world with such an embarrassment of riches no one should be hungry, without shelter or living in fear. I believe that stewardship at St. Georges should be one way I can act locally while I pray globally.

I also believe that stewardship is very private and personal. Church should not be another place where people are vulnerable to feelings of being in competition; trying to keep up with or measure up to their neighbor. There are already too many of those places. St. Georges should be a haven from that. While I admire people who tithe, I also admire people who live in nice houses and drive fancy cars. I can be shallow; it’s part of human nature.

Finally, I believe it is my duty as a member of the Vestry to help create an environment where stewardship can happen and good works can flourish; “where God can bust out all over the place” to quote Barry Stopfel. I believe it is also the Vestry’s duty to be faithful stewards of the financial resources we’ve been entrusted with by the members of the parish and to see that they are properly directed.

Tom Savoth