St John's Cathedral Community News October 2017 #91

Celebrating Stewardship + Dedication Festival

This year we will again celebrate stewardship in conjunction with our Dedication Festival. To help us prepare, a resource brochure about stewardship will be available soon. Please take a copy and, in the immortal words of the collect, “read, mark, learn and inwardly digest” the thoughts and ideas it contains. Stewardship is about our relationship with God. It is a pastoral issue, not a financial one. Stewardship is about an act of worship, not a strategic fundraising program. Stewardship is about caring for our church and its mission. Stewardship is about giving, both of ourselves and of our resources (including our time, our talents and our money). Please take time to reflect on your own stewardship of your gifts and talents, including your money. We focus on developing stewardship because: 1. in stewardship there is movement towards God; 2. it takes trust in God to give; 3. it takes an interactive relationship with God to be able to hear God’s prompting As our relationship with God develops, and deepens, there is greater opportunity for us to become more Christ-like, with all of the behaviours and characteristics that that evokes. Christian stewardship involves active commitment, not passive acceptance. We give because we understand our responsibilities, because we refuse to stagnate, because above all, we care about Christ’s work in this sad world. Stewardship is ministry undertaken by every member of the congregation who is prepared to accept and live by the teachings of Christ Himself. Practical realities Knowing what financial commitment you wish to make gives Cathedral Chapter some certainty as it prepares its budget and considers staffing and possible projects for 2018. So, on Sunday 29th October, you will be invited to complete and offer your financial commitment form for 2018. Please pray: Good Shepherd, we are calling for an expansion of the ministry of this Cathedral. We want to share your Good News with the people of this city and this state, so that they will have the opportunity to enter their eternal life through the doorway that is Je-sus Christ. Give us the willingness and the enthusiasm to provide for this ministry through our stewardship of all your resources. Amen. ~ John Postle, Chris Gourlay, Helen Lancaster, Cathedral Wardens Celebrating Dedication, Celebrating Stewardship Port. As has become our custom, you will be most welcome to contribute a gift of port for use in our Eucharistic celebrations during the year to come. On Stewardship Sunday (and the following couple of Sundays) there will be a basket in front of the Altar where you can place your gift of port or you can leave your gift with a sides-person or at the Cathedral Office. Dedication Festival Today (29th) we will be celebrating the anniversary of the Cathedral’s dedication. There will be a community barbeque after the 9.30am service, to which all are invited. The festivities will continue with Choral Evensong at 6.00pm. Let’s rejoice together and acknowledge not only the dedication of this magnificent building, but also our dedication to one another as a community. All welcome. as to whom, when and how much to give. Through stewardship we grow closer to God.

Sunday 29th October

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OCTOBER 2017