FSG News | August 2022
“Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the seas roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord;”
August 1, 2022
Did you know that stewardship is a whole lot bigger than budgets, pledge cards, & financial giving?
Stewardship is not limited to finances. Broadly, stewardship is an ethic that embodies the responsible planning and management of resources.
While I was on internship, my understanding of stewardship broadened to include how I live upon this earth—my use of electricity, water, consumption of goods, and the trash I produce. My internship supervisor invited me to consider how I steward my household in ways that are gentle upon the earth.
“Creation care”, she said, “is stewardship.”
This has had a lasting impact upon me and my family. Most recently, we have been considered our relationship to single use plastic and the damage it causes upon earth’s land, oceans, and ecosystems. Since creation care is a matter of faith and stewardship, Stephen and I set a “creation care” goal this year to reduce our household’s use of single use plastic.
This year, our family strives to:
Eliminate the use of plastic grocery bags. Opting for canvas and mesh bags for our groceries and fresh fruits and vegetables.
Eliminate the use of plastic baggies for our lunches. Opting for reusable storage containers.
Eliminate the purchase of plastic bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. Opting for shampoo and conditioner bars that come in recyclable paper wrapping.
Eliminate the use of plastic drinking straws. Opting for paper straws or reusable silicone and glass straws.
What our family has realized is that stewarding our relationship with earth is not convenient. It has required us to make different choices and create new patterns of behavior that center what’s best for the earth not just what’s best for us. Have you considered your relationship with the earth? I invite you to take an inventory and consider how stewardship is not just about your pocket-book but about the God’s world.
Need some ideas for stewarding your relationship with the earth? Click here.
Thank you for sharing your Treasures!
Pastor Elizabeth Gallen
Financial Sustainability Group