Stewardship and Online Giving
Stewardship is about thanksgiving – how we manage our time, abilities, and resources to do God’s work at St. Stephen’s and in our community.
In the Episcopal Church, each member is encouraged to support his or her parish financially. Each of us at St. Stephen’s is asked to give some of our money every year to this parish, as a way of thanking God for all that God so freely gives us. Many of us pledge to give a specific amount each year, on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis. We count it a blessing and a joy to support St. Stephen’s in this way. Every pledge is needed and welcomed!
But we also see stewardship as more than simply contributing money to the church; it’s also about contributing time and talents and volunteering for ministry and mission. It’s about reaching out to build relationships from a perspective of abundance instead of scarcity.
Stewardship is, simply put, our responsibility to care for God’s gifts, and to use those gifts to glorify God, to serve the common good, and to further God’s kingdom.
And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And all ate and were filled. What was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces. Luke 9:16-17, NRSV
Our campaign theme for 2022 is More Than Enough, and it comes from the end of Luke’s version of the feeding of the five-thousand. Responding to Jesus’ call, the gathered crowd turns their pockets inside out, shakes out their blankets, rummages through their parcels to find enough to take care of the needs of the community. And what do they realize? That by the miracle of faith and the action of Love, there was more than enough, an abundance of leftovers!
Our stewardship campaign is like that ancient story: each of us contributing what we can provides enough – enough to fund our operations and an abundance more to take care of our neighbors and plan for the future. Every gift is a miracle, a chance to change the world. And every gift is Love, the kind of love that protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres, as St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians.
Fill out your Annual Pledge Online!
To Donate Via PayPal
Click the button:
To Donate Cash or a Check
During worship, you can place your contribution in the offering plate, or mail your contribution to:
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church
1110 St Stephens Church Road
Crownsville, MD 21032
To Mail in an Annual Pledge
Download the annual pledge form, fill it out, and mail it to:
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church
1110 St Stephens Church Road
Crownsville, MD 21032
