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The Anglican Church in Tasmania Search |
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a healthy church...transformingLIFE |
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August 2005 |
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That one scary wordI have spent much of my life avoiding ever watching the movie Arachnophobia. Snakes, thunderstorms and things that go bump in the night I can take in my stride, but spiders are a different kettle of fish. To lots of nervous Nellies like Doug Edmonds, the term that strikes terror into our hearts is … tarantula! And if there’s one word that strikes terror into the hearts of ardent Anglicans, it’s stewardship. The mere whiff of a stewardship campaign in the distant future is enough to send the loyalest laity scurrying for cover. On the whole, and not undeservedly, stewardship has often been seen as being like Shane Warne to Australian cricket: some atrocious messages have been sent out in the name of a sound Biblical concept. Some parishes plump for a three-yearly onslaught by professional fund-raisers while others brew up a home-grown product. I’ve survived both and don’t believe that either has all that much to do with real stewardship. Most stewardship campaigns focus on meeting the parish budget. But what on earth does that have to do with stewardship? I defy anyone to find the term ‘parish budget’ in scripture. What the Bible teaches about stewardship is about how God’s people ought to live with all that God has given us, the whole of creation, including forests and money.
Doug Edmonds is Rector of Holy Trinity, Launceston and really is scared of arachnoids. |
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