An October ritual for most organizations is the wrap-up of next year's plan, and the church is no different. Churches ask for pledges during the stewardship campaign (the stewardship idea: we don't "own" anything, not even our bodies, and we are to be wise stewards of God's creation). Every year our family has maintained or increased its pledge, but next year we're going to cut back.
The most important reason is that my consulting income and work on startups (which I hope will pay off in capital gains down the road) is not yet at the level I earned as a full-time worker.
I also find that I am disagreeing more and more with church leadership about its identification with statism (see here). Freedom means that we're free not to give as well.
I wholeheartedly support voluntary direct aid to members of the community, sans politics, and next year intend to devote more time and treasure to those activities, both within and without the church. Anyway, that's the plan. © 2013 Stephen Yuen
No comments:
Post a Comment