As Stewardship Sunday is approaching (Oct. 16!), you will be hearing about pledging and making a financial commitment for the coming year. This will be an important consideration for you to think through and prayerfully consider. However, I would like to focus on another aspect of Stewardship – your time and talent. Yes, we as a church need to be financially viable to exist and operate, but a community also needs involvement and participation from its members to be viable and to exist. Each of us has our own strengths, skills and interests.  But if we don't utilize or share them, we are wasting the gifts that God has bestowed on each of us.

The other day, I was reading the publication that the university I attended sends out each quarter. There was an article on the university's initiative to expand student enrollment from all 50 states and other countries in recognition that a more diverse student body will enrich students' experiences, and will expose them to broader ideas and thoughts, allowing them to grow and evolve more fully. This is not unlike our church community – we have a broad range of disciplines and  skills represented. Our congregation is filled with artists, engineers, stay at home parents, doctors, accountants, social workers, civil servants, bankers, teachers, entrepreneurs, analysts, administrative assistants, carpenters, IT specialists, managers, nurses, musicians!! 

I am an engineer by training.  Engineers typically like to solve problems, improve efficiency, are thrifty (spending is simply a problem of optimization), practical, and straightforward  - maybe some good traits to have if you are a Senior Warden?? But I also am a mother and see our children as the future who need to be nurtured, loved, and challenged. So in addition to serving on the Vestry, I teach Sunday School, volunteer in Kid’s Klub, and have volunteered at JFK, our after school program. And like the college students at a university, these experiences have stretched me and have allowed me to grow and develop more fully.  In my J2A Sunday School class I am exposed to the world of teenagers and have learned that these kids have profound thoughts and opinions, and are fun! One thing that you really notice is how they treat each other – they are very supportive of each other and inclusive – a good example to us adults! When I first started teaching teenagers, was I a little hesitant that I would not be able to connect with them, or that they wouldn't think I was cool? – Yes! But sometimes you just have to take the leap, get your hands dirty, and discover the impact you can make and the impact that's made on you. 

For our church to thrive, grow, and evolve, we need that diverse congregation I spoke about above to broaden our commissions.  Step out into the community with Outreach, oversee church operations on the Vestry, make our services more diverse on the Worship committee, be creative with Stewardship, have fun fundraising, spend time with Pastoral Care, stay young with our children and youth, learn to make apple dumplings with ECW, grow your minds with Adult Education, add some fellows to Fellowship! 

Make a complete pledge this year – when you hand in your financial pledge this October pick a commission to join or a project to help out with – share your gifts with your faith community!  

Nora Esquieres, Senior Warden