Peggy Morrissey Temple Talk
October 27, 2013
I spend a good amount of time every day of every week at the Alternative Center School in New Britain
where I teach. In my spare moments this week I reread Donna’s newsletter articles about stewardship
and thought about the purpose of her message as I prepared to write mine.
For some of my more rambunctious students I’ve attached little reminders to their desks that say “Selfcontrol is knowing I can but deciding I won’t.” Focusing more intentionally on the topic of how we
choose to use our gifts, I’ve transferred that thought to read “STEWARDSHIP is knowing I can and
deciding I will.” I will share my time. I will share my talents. And I will share my resources, not out of
guilt or begrudgingly but with a joy filled, happy heart.
I believe that I initially learned that extremely valuable lesson as a teenager when I happened to once
catch a quick look at my parents’ offering envelope. Stewardship or stewardship decisions weren’t
something that we talked about openly as a family but my parents’ actions impressed me THEN, and
maybe even more so NOW as I think about it. I knew that my allowance was $3 a week and here was a
church envelope that had $25 written on it. I wondered how it could even be possible. That seemed like
an incredibly huge amount of money. My Mom and Dad had clearly determined that their offering was
a priority and mine needed to be also.
As the Director of the Calumet Day Camp in New Haven I’ve had the opportunity to worship at
Resurrection Lutheran Church for three weeks each summer. I recall one particular Sunday when I was
sitting with one of my favorite five year olds whose name was India. The offering plate came to our row
and she proudly placed her nine pennies in saying, “That’s all I’ve got.” I think this may have been one
of those experiences that you had to be there for. It was the look on her face that made it clear that her
offering was really important to her. She was definitely a cheerful giver.
One more story . . .
It was a typical HOT, very busy Friday afternoon at Day Camp. Suddenly a stranger appeared in the
midst of all the action. He was looking for whoever was in charge. One of the counselors found me and I
introduced myself. The only thing this man said was, “I want you to use this for the children.” He placed
seven one hundred dollar bills in my hand and he walked away. I shared this story with the campers at
closing that day and one very wise ten year old yelled out immediately, “We need to tithe that money.”
He went on to explain to the others what that meant. They agreed, and so we did. $70 was donated to
the Ronald McDonald House around the corner from the church . . . it was an amazing teachable
moment.
All three of my stories this morning happen to be about money, but stewardship is a lot more than that.
In that old familiar stewardship musical drama called “TO THE CASTLE”, we learned that a steward was a
keeper of the pigs. Today we’ve expanded that notion somewhat saying that a steward is the manager
of the time, talents, and resources that have been put in his or her care. God has truly blessed us all
with gifts beyond our imagination. I pray that God grant us the wisdom to use our blessings to His glory
and to the service of humankind.
Thanks for listening. And faith is what we do with all that after we first say that we believe