What Stewardship Means to Us
CONNECTING Is Our Strength
GRATITUDE Is Our Attitude
FAITH Is Our Lifestyle
At St Stephen’s Lutheran Church, our Connections are in Action! We believe our connections can transform our world and can lead us to transform our world into God’s Kingdom. When we take care of our neighbor and the world, with strength and faith in God as our primary resource, we all share in those blessings and love spreads joyously, world-wide!
It’s this spirit of connectedness and our faith in God’s generosity and love which enables us to give fully and commit our blessings of time, talents and treasures back to God. Gratitude is not just in the receiving, it is in the giving. As God’s gift of his son is a blessing of love, our commitment to God is seen in our acts of generosity in the world. When we put God above our treasures, we participate in God’s generosity.
St Stephens’ missions and ministry are many and varied among local and worldwide organizations like Neighbors Inc., Loaves and Fishes, the Kurds and Tanzania. We house a local Montessori school in our building and The Boy Scouts enjoy the use of our church for their meeting and fundraisers. We lease out our recently renovated Noreen Center to ISD197 for their after school care program and to Matrix Housing Services in the winter to shelter the homeless. Our location is central to our local schools, and we support them by allowing the use of our parking lot for school gatherings with hosting summer meals for children. When it comes to outreach, this church invests 20% in our missions and 30% in our community.
Generosity in Stewardship & Your Regular Offering
Why do we act so surprised when unexpected things happen? Much of life is beyond our control. Life is full of heartaches and joys alike, but faith makes all of life worth it. It anchors us in God’s promises and provides a firm foundation, so we will not be shaken when the unexpected happens.
A strong and curious faith empowers us to respond to all of life’s circumstances. This kind of dynamic faith helps gratitude and generosity grow.
October and November is our season of stewardship. It’s an important time to reflect on our gifts received and given, to consider how we can grow those gifts to enable innovative, and personal ways to spread the word of God. With your gifts, we can make the education of our children a priority, we can ensure strong, consistent support of families and our seniors and help to conquer issues like homelessness, hunger and hunger, and encourage all God’s children to become leaders and disciples in faith.
Without an annual stewardship initiative, our church would not thrive. We invite all to pray about their current commitment, to put God first as they contemplate their giving, and to be generous so this church can plan for how we can share with our community and beyond.
Local & Global Missions
At St Stephen’s our mission is to connect with God, each other, and the world. We uphold this mission by supporting missions near and dear to us, such as Neighbor’s Inc., Loaves & Fishes, and Fair Trade, as well as global faith partners such as Tanzania, Kurdistan, and ELCA World Hunger. To end hunger and cruelty world-wide, we must expand our outreach, participate and be generous in our care for each other. By doing so, we grow God’s grace when we take care of each other. Faith reassures us that he will take care of us in return.
Foundation
This endowment fund provides additional resources to assist the congregation in its ministry and mission. The principal of the Fund remains intact, and only the interest is spent each year. Therefore, a contribution to the Foundation is a gift that keeps giving every year and encourages special projects and missions of St Stephens.
How to Give
Just because our doors are not as open these days, our hearts and minds have opened even wider. Our staff and volunteers are finding innovative thoughtful methods to increase our connectivity and support of our community.
If you need some giving envelopes, contact the church office and we can get some out to you pronto so you can mail in your offering. If you’re ready to explore electronic giving, here are a few options we offer:
Try “Text to Give” by texting to phone# 844.907.2702 and in the message field, add your offering amount. Have a credit card ready for your inspired contribution.
Download the GIVE PLUS+ mobile app to create an account, sign into your Vanco account or simply choose “Give Now”.
With GIVEPLUS+ you can give whenever you are inspired to support a mission or need, or you can set up a recurring donation to the general offering.
Don’t have a Vanco account yet? Visit ststephenswsp.org and select the GIVE ONLINE option at the top to get started.
Volunteer with us! Share your gifts and talents in thanks to God! St. Stephen’s thrives because of our amazing volunteers and the many shared talents we enjoy.
If you wish to participate in our ministry and help out with some of our goals and missions, we’d love to hear from you! Contact the church and get connected today!
Your support of and participation at St Stephen’s is valued, appreciated and necessary to keep God’s love and message of hope alive. Thanks for all you do! What a blessing you are to God’s amazing world.