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Stewardship: a Bridge to Belonging

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Stewardship—protecting, tending, caring—is at the core of what it means to live out my faith, of building and nourishing the beloved community. It is a call to bring my best self to the mission and life of the church. --Ellen Foley

What calls me to First Unitarian Church?  In many ways I can’t take credit for my Unitarian faith.  I grew up in the Unitarian church of Flint, Michigan; my grandparents were all Unitarian.  Religion did not occupy my conscious thoughts during my childhood and early adulthood.
And yet I have always had a strong moral compass and a certainty about my own spiritual values: justice, interdependence, the inherent worth and dignity of all human beings.  In my adulthood I have found, unsurprisingly, that Unitarian churches are the places where I find those who share this moral compass.  I find people I want to know.  People I admire.  People who I hope will shape my son’s sense of his place in the world and his responsibilities to it.
But how does that connect with stewardship? Merriam-Webster tells us that stewardship is the activity of protecting and being responsible for something; it is the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care.  For me the work of stewardship—protecting, tending, caring—is at the core of what it means to live out my faith.  Stewardship is a way of doing the necessary work of the world, of building the beloved community, and of protecting and nourishing that community for those who will follow in our footsteps.
I am passionate about the work of stewardship because it provides the path for church members to connect their own spiritual needs, values, and practices to the longevity, vitality, and joy and promise of church and church life.  What calls me to stewardship is the sense that I am answering a call: a call to expect the best of myself and others, a call to bring my best self to the mission and life of the church, and a call to take responsibility for the present and future of this precious community.   

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