Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, NC

As I write this letter, we are all still reeling from the disastrous hurricane that devastated the Gulf coast states. The amount of damage and human suffering are rivaled only by the overwhelming challenge of caring for those who have lost so much, disposing of miles and miles of rubble and trash, and rebuilding homes, lives, and infrastructures.

All of us have felt the urge to help. Realizing that we have been blessed with so much - so much that we ordinarily just take for granted - we open our pocketbooks and our hearts and even our homes.

That is what Christian financial stewardship is in a nutshell. Recognizing all that we have received as gift indeed, we give back to God through sharing a significant portion of what we have with others. A stunning crisis such as this natural disaster sharpens our need to do that and others' need to receive it more clearly; but in reality that grateful generosity is to be a way of life for us, an habitual pattern of our lives.

Even if the world's good were equally and equitably distributed and no human need existed, we would still need to give back to God some of what God has blessed us with, to express both our gratitude and our acknowledgement that we are dependent on God's grace for all that we enjoy. That need to honor our Creator and Redeemer and Sanctifier and to express our true identity as God's children exists within us; and we are never so fulfilled as when we respond to it and fully live it out.

But, as we are at present only too aware, there is great human want, and the resources that we have available to us are greatly needed by others. Even when life finally begins to be livable in New Orleans and the surrounding area again, which will take a very long time, there will still be great demands on the resources God gives us to be able to share with others.

Grateful giving to God and to others, then, is a major part of our faith response as Christians. In this issue on financial stewardship, articles explore how we practice that as members of the Chapel of the Cross through our annual giving, our special giving, and our capital giving. I hope this discussion, as well as your actual giving back to God in joyful thanksgiving, illuminates and enlivens your Christian faith and identity.

- Stephen

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