When I was asked to speak about stewardship, my first thought was “what could I possibly say?”  I thought there was no way I could find the correct words to say, especially in this current season. However, after thinking about it more, I realized I had a special opportunity to talk about our church, our leaders, and our congregation that are all so special to me.

I grew up in Madison.  I began attending St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church with my family in the late 1990s when Bill McAlilly was the preacher.  We had a personal connection with Bill because my brother played soccer with Bill’s son.  We became involved, and I was regularly at the church on Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday night.

Then, I moved to Oxford to attend Ole Miss.  I moved back to this area after law school.  Jamie and I were establishing our young adult lives.  He did not attend a Methodist church, so we agreed to try options to see what fit. We attended services of many denominations – small churches and large churches, with traditional services or contemporary services.  Some churches we attended several times.  However, we could never quite find the right fit.

Eventually, we came back to St. Matthew’s.  For me, it was like coming home.  I wanted a traditional service.  I want to hold a hymnal in my hand.  I want to recite the Apostle’s Creed and sing the doxology that I know by heart after the offering has been collected.  For me, the tradition and the structure of the services just feels right.

But, choosing St. Matthew’s as our church home was about more than tradition or the structure of a service.  We finally found that connection we had been missing.

I saw some familiar, friendly faces that I remembered from when I was younger.  I appreciated some of the local ministries the church supported, as well as those abroad.  We had visited churches where I left feeling discouraged instead of uplifted, and I felt there was a competition to give the image of being perfect.  However, at St. Matthew’s, I felt accepted – faults and all.  I felt encouraged to be better without feeling judged for my failings and without feeling the requirement to pretend to be perfect.

Stewardship has several definitions.  The one that spoke to me the most said that to be a good steward was to use one’s resources wisely.  Stewardship discussions most commonly revolve around tithing and budgets.  Those things are important.  The church needs financial support to keep the lights on, pay the staff, and support its ministries.  We have other resources.  At this stage in my life, time is my most precious commodity. Time is limited.  We all have schedules with work deadlines, children’s activities, and other commitments.  There is always of feeling of “go, go, go” and there are not enough hours in the day. How we use our time is important.  It tells ourselves, and others, what we prioritize.

When church is not fulfilling, it gets easy to make excuses.  It gets easy to sleep in.  You miss a week here and there, then you miss two weeks, and next thing you know it has been six weeks since you last attended.  I have always liked the saying “going to church doesn’t make you a Christian more than standing in a garage makes you a car.”  While that is true, I do not believe that is what God wants for us.  I believe he wants us to find a worship community.

Jamie and I have two little girls.  It was important to us that they grow up understanding it is important to get up and go to church on Sunday.  It is part of the routine, just like going to school or work.  It’s just something we do.  It is how we use our time.  But this is not simply to check a box and say we attended.

As a result, our attendance became more regular.  What we found was that the more we attended, the more the friendly faces became friends and the more I have felt rewarded in my faith.

We sit in the balcony most Sundays.  We admittedly are late more often than we are on time. I enjoy sitting in the balcony with the other families with small children. There is no judgment or dirty look for a child making noise.  We are here together.  We are letting our kids sing those hymns and learn the traditions.

One of the best things that we have done was joining a Sunday School class.  We are in a class with a group of people we genuinely enjoy spending time with. It is a class where we can talk about scripture and apply it to our lives.  We can have honest conversations and questions and debates in a respectful manner. We can share our struggles, and we can challenge each other.  These are not just our “church friends”.  These are our friends.  These are the people we get to do life with. We get to celebrate the good times (and all the new babies).  We have mourned and prayed together over disappointments and losses.  I did not know some of these people a few years ago, and now they are very dear friends.  

We started coming on Wednesday nights.  Our kids look forward to seeing their friends and going to see Mr. Tim in the choir room.  After a few months, on a random Wednesday, a friend asked if I wanted to attend the ladies Bible study with her.  I do not know exactly what I expected, but I will admit I was a little nervous.  I had this image in my head of ladies that had it all together, and I thought I would never fit in.  I cannot recite scripture and sometimes I get Bible stories a little mixed up.  What if I was not good enough?  Would I be judged?  What could I possibly add to their discussions? I could not have been more wrong about this group of ladies.  I was welcomed with open arms.  We can vent and share struggles as women and as parents.  No one has ever made me feel less than for admitting that I have fallen short.  Instead of leaving feeling judged or not good enough, I am reminded that I am not alone, and I am loved.  I am reminded of God’s never-ending grace for us.

The best part of all of this is that our church family does not exist in a bubble.  We do not leave them behind when we walk out of the doors of the church building.  When we go to events in the community, we see our church friends and family.  We can be attending a school event, soccer game, swim meet, a concert, or tailgating at a football game, and we see members of our church.  Our church is a part of our life.

There was a vote earlier this year.  It came at the end of a long, hard season.  We did not all agree on how the vote should go.  The beautiful thing is that we did not have to agree.  Even if we disagreed about the vote, if you were here that day, I think we can all agree how special it was to have Time lead the congregation in hymns while we waited.  For a moment, the vote did not matter.  We were all together as we worshiped and sang.

After that experience, you cannot convince that God does not have special plans for this church and these people.  I love this church, and I love these people.  I am proud to be a member of this church.  I cannot say thank you enough to our church leaders and our members. 

Our time is our greatest commodity.  I have never left an event at this church or a time of fellowship with my fellow members and regretted how I had used my time.  This church has given me more than I feel I could ever give it in return.  If you have not plugged in yet, I highly recommend you do.  You will not regret it.