Dear friends in Christ,

When life gets really busy, I find myself feeling out of balance. Almost like a spinning top that isn’t formed correctly. Tops that aren’t balanced can be kept spinning if you keep forcing them, but eventually they topple over. This is when I fantasize about finding that perfectly balanced state where you don’t have to exhaust yourself making every little thing happen and trying to keep up.

I suppose we will never find that state, because none of us is perfectly formed! But in order to keep doing the work God has given me, I need to be mindful of how the top is spinning. I need to be aware of what’s going on before I crash and burn. I need to be ready to care for the body, the mind, the heart, and the spirit that God has given me.

This is true for all of us. We all have important work to do in this life that was given to us by God. And in order to do it, we need to be mindful of our state of well-being in all things. Obviously we can’t always keep the top spinning. Sometimes we will tip over and need a little help to get going again. But if we crash too often, it starts to keep us from doing what God wants us to do.

Our stewardship focus this year is “Whole Life Stewardship—A Balancing Act.” It’s based on a concept from Portico, our benefits provider, called the Wholeness Wheel. In the wheel there are several different types of well-being:

• Emotional
• Physical
• Financial
• Vocational
• Intellectual
• Social/Interpersonal

Surrounding them all is Spiritual Well-Being, which can and should keep them all integrated.

Stewardship is not just about giving money to church. It’s about caring for everything that God has given us, and putting it to use in ways that reflect God’s love for all people in Jesus Christ. So for our stewardship time this year, we will have some of the things you are already familiar with. Cards to estimate your 2020 giving. Charts. Letters. Temple Talks.

However, this year we will cast a wider net in talking about many different kinds of stewardship. For each Sunday in November, we will be welcoming a guest speaker for a short Temple Talk and a more in-depth presentation during coffee hour on four of these areas of well-being. We will also be offering opportunities to go deeper in each of these areas. Time set aside to care more intentionally for your well-being. We will depend on your feedback and suggestions to bring you these opportunities at times when you can participate.

You may be skeptical at this point, thinking “OK, but where’s the catch? When are you going to remind me to give to St. Peter’s?” I think most of us already know it’s important to give to the church. Without your consistent financial support, St. Peter’s could not exist or function as a congregation, and we can always improve in that area, it’s true. We could do some amazing work for Christ if there were no worries about money. But even though stewardship includes money, it’s about much more than money. It’s about taking care of what God has given us. In a word: everything.

Members, regular attenders, those who make use of offering envelopes, keep an eye out for a letter in the mail from me later this month with more info and materials. If you’d like to join that group, please let me or Paula Bishop know. Either way, everyone, please join us in November to explore ways to keep your wheels balanced and spinning.

Together in Christ,
Pastor Katie Yahns