Page |1
A “STEWARDSHIP MOMENT” Rhodri Windsor-Liscombe, November 24, 2013
There is good news since the Stewardship pledges have topped $79,706 toward our goal of $230,000 -- the sum needed to ensure our ongoing worship and service, the sacred yet practical alliance that constitutes the dynamic presence of St. James’ here in Vancouver. The better news is that we all, whatever our talents -- monetary and personal -- have the opportunity to sustain the worship and service through Stewardship (and for some us to complete and submit our pledges!). For among all the garbled and bad news, ideas and vibes, that slash at our hearts and minds, and even persons, the worshiping and serving community of St. James steadily enacts the Good News of the Gospels. Every day the parish nurtures both the trinity of worship and the trinity of service, as represented in those enduringly wonderful words: Faith, Hope and Love [Charity]. Our Stewardship pledges assure the heritage of living belief enshrined in St. James’, now and into the future -- through the work of the guilds and our community outreach, as well as the visibility and functioning of our remarkable church in this neighbourhood. Indeed, features of the church building Stewardship pledges help sustain articulate that powerful amalgam of worship and service. The entrance engages directly with a crossroads of business, inviting in people from many backgrounds to a sanctuary of reverent refocusing, recharging of our daily lives; a place of beauty in architecture, music and liturgy. The unending rhythm of arches and the changing volumes and vistas that seem to clarify thought but also to evoke Christ's promise of ‘many mansions". The pervasive, changing light intimates divine truth while bringing comfort no less than inspiration. And lastly the manner in the elevated and elevating space of the church embodies sacred purpose. In such ways Stewardship, in enabling our worship and service together and in the community, brings alive the best news, the Good News of the Gospel.