The journey of being church is all about stewardship.  I'm not just talking about money, though money is part of it.  Stewardship is a life long spiritual journey of recognizing our God-given gifts and calling us to a more intimate relationship with God and others.  This journey results in a personal change of heart and a reorientation of our lives to furthering God's Kingdom here on earth by using and sharing our gifts lovingly in justice with others.  (this definition created by the Crossroads Church Stewardship workgroup)

Every church, household, and individual participates in a process of visioning and goal settings.  Sometimes it is a very intentional, participatory, and creative process.  Often we just do the things we've always done in the ways we've always done them.  There is a very human tendency to operate according to a vision that has not been reconsidered for a very long time.  One result of an unintentional visioning process is that our goals are often fuzzy, not really measurable, and therefore very difficult to accomplish.  People, including pastors, can feel frustrated and sometimes get burned out with goals and measures of accomplishment are not well delineated and well understood.  As a result, many people live with a creeping sense of failure.  This is not the way any of us really wants to live and it's definitely not the way most congregations want to live.

This spring will be a time of focus on stewardship for the congregation I pastor - Crossroads Church of Kansas City.  There will be a couple of visioning retreats to develop big picture goals that are clear and measurable.  Then a direction setting retreat at which the goals will be adopted and the organization (through work groups) developed for the coming church year.  In a separate emphasis, the congregation will take the time to reflect deeply on the spirituality of our possessions.  There will be house groups so that everyone can participate in conversations about financial stewardship.  The emphasis will be placed on stewardship as a spiritual journey and the invitation will be to consider how you think God is leading you in terms of your financial investment in Crossroads Church this coming year.

Stewardship is the journey of living as followers of Jesus.  It is a process of growing trust that we live in partnership with the Spirit.  It is the choice we make now and each day to let our faith prompt our actions rather than letting our faith commitments become one more items to schedule and one more bill to pay.  To walk by faith requires discipline and sometimes sacrifice.  It also requires us to be open to God's extravagance and to imagine what is possible.

Thanks for blessing me on the journey.

--Jack Price

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