Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I pray that you have had a refreshing summer and are ready for all of the activities of the new season. So often, September is the start of a new Church year, with the ramping up of
activities and the development of new programs. Bless you in the work that you are doing to proclaim Jesus’ name and further His kingdom in this world.
As I am writing this note to you, I am enjoying some time on an island off the coast of Maine. I look out over the green of the pines and the blue of the ocean and sky and am once again overwhelmed by the beauty that God has entrusted to us. I cannot help but be in wonderment at all that He created and then put into our hands. We often hear that we are stewards of God’s creation and immediately think that we are being asked for money. However, stewardship is not simply about money. Stewardship is an understanding of our place in creation. A steward is “a person who has charge [who manages] another’s property.” This world, with all of its riches, with all of its beauty, with all of its time, even with all of its money, does not belong to us. It belongs to God. He has put it under our management so that we might take care of it for Him.
As we look forward to this Church year, let us remember that nothing that we are doing in our churches, nothing that we are doing in our lives and in our homes, is because we are doing these things for ourselves. We are stewards. We are working for God. I pray that we will be faithful and just stewards. I pray that we will work together for His kingdom. I pray that our relations with the Church, with others, with ourselves, will be truly a blessing to God and that we will hear His words at the last, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant!”
May God bless you during this season of hope and love!
----Your Brother and Bishop, +Hendy
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