Stewardship Ministry

"Your Own from Your Own We Offer You"

“…but make me worthy, Your sinful and unworthy servant, to offer these Gifts unto You. For You are the Offeror and the Offered, Who accepts and is distributed, O Christ our God….”

-Priestly prayers before Holy Communion

A little boy asked his father, “Daddy, can I have ten dollars?” The father, wanting to understand, told the boy, “Yes, but can you tell me what you plan to do with ten dollars?” The little boy replied quietly, “Daddy, I need the money to buy you a present.”

We are not so different from that little boy. In every Divine Liturgy, when our gifts of bread and wine are blessed and lifted up in offering to God our Father, we hear the words, "Your own from Your own we offer to You." We acknowledge that, just like the little boy buying a gift for his father, everything we have and everything we offer to God first comes from Him. In the Divine Liturgy, we offer bread and wine to God with thanksgiving. He returns them to us as His body and blood in Holy Communion as we receive Jesus Christ within us.

See Our Church as It Could Be

One church member was heard to say, “I just want the church to be here long enough to have my funeral here.” This is a church in survival mode, just paying the bills. We ask, “What does it cost?” “What are the dues?” “How much do I owe?” These are earthly questions. A better question would be, “What can I give so that my church can become all it is meant to be – the Body of Christ on earth.” With a vision for the future of our parish, we can say, “I want the church to be here for my grandchildren’s grandchildren.”

As Orthodox Christians, we see the world as God’s gift, a sacrament of God’s presence, and a means of communion with Him. This way, we can offer back to God, in thanksgiving and love, the many gifts we receive from Him. Like the boy in the New Testament who offered five loaves and two fish, and Jesus multiplied them to feed the 5,000, God receives our humble gifts and multiplies them to feed the world.

When we see a great need in our community and the world, we may ask, “If God is so loving, then why is there so much poverty and suffering in the world? Where is God when we need Him?” Sometimes, the need is so overwhelming that helping at all seems impossible, but in the miracle of the five loaves and two fish, we are taught to offer what we have, no matter the amount, and miracles will happen.

So, with our church, we often imagine only what is humanly possible. If we do our part in faith, God will lovingly return to us much more than we could ever imagine. This is the true meaning of “Your own from Your own.” We will see our church not as it is but as it could be, with our humble gifts multiplied by God’s generosity and love. With our faithful offering, we will see in our church as they did in the early Church, “…the Lord added to their number daily, those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47).

“This Ekklesia exists when the dispersed, divided, self-preoccupied people unite and become a family, where people see one another as brothers and sisters with God as their common father, and try to share whatever they have and whatever they are, and be united in heart and soul.”

-Fr. Philotheos Faros in Functional and Dysfunctional Christianity

WHAT IS STEWARDSHIP?

Stewardship involves giving your time, talent, and treasure without requiring perfect participation or minimum financial commitment. It is biblical and teaches The Four Fundamental Principles of Stewardship. 

  • God created and owns everything.  Everything we are and have is a gift from God(Ownership).

    [Psalm 24:1; Deuteronomy 8:28]

  • We are entrusted as Stewards to manage His gifts, committing ourselves and possessions to advance Christ's Ministry (Responsibility). [Mt. 25:14-30]

  • The Parable of the Talents shows we're accountable for how we manage His gifts. (Accountability). 
    [Mt. 25:14-30]

  • St. Paul reminds us, "Whatever [we] do, work it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for man, since you know you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving." (Reward). 
    [Colossians 3:23-24; Prov. 18:16; Lk. 6:38]

WHO IS A MEMBER?

A member of the Orthodox Church is anyone baptized and chrismated per Eastern Orthodox rites. However, not all are stewards.

WHO IS THE STEWARD?

A steward is any baptized Orthodox Christian 18 or older who supports themselves, wants to serve the church, and dedicates time, talent, and treasure to its mission.

These commitments show one's Stewardship and active faith, but not all stewards are active.

WHO IS THE ACTIVE STEWARD?

The active steward is actively living their faith.  They don’t merely give of their treasure. They also offer their time regularly attending Divine Liturgy and other worship services; they regularly participate in Holy Communion, Holy Unction, and Holy Confession; they spend their time in, and offer their talent to, the ministries and needs of the church, respectively; and they try to adhere to and live according to the teachings of the Orthodox Christian Faith.

This active steward is often called a “member in good standing.”

WHAT IS TREASURE?

Treasure is accumulating wealth through work, profession, talents, gifts, and inheritance.

There are no fees, dues, or set minimums.  All that is asked of you is to give regularly and to be faithful to the scriptural command to give a percentage of what you have received from our Lord to sustain His beloved church and her ministries.

[Nehemiah 10:35-37; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Gen. 14:19-20; Lev. 27:30; Malachi 3:10;]

Most importantly, each steward is encouraged to give according to their means and heart.[Numbers 18:28; Deuteronomy 14:22; 16:17; 2 Corinthians 8:12; 9:6-8]

WHAT DOES YOUR STEWARDSHIP SUPPORT?

Stewardship supports the complete and total church budget without the help of fundraisers.

It supports reach, outreach, religious education, young adult life, spiritual events like retreats, youth programs, multi-generational ministries, and church operations, which back the National Ministries of our Archdiocese, the Metropolis of New Jersey, and related institutions.

OUR GOAL

Our three (3) overarching Stewardship Goals as a church family are:

1.    Faithfully Fulfill God’s Stewardship Command to Give
       [Gen. 2:15; Lev. 25:1-5; 2 Chron. 31:12; Ps. 24:1]

2.    Consistent, Regular, & Increased Giving and

3.    Participation from ALL our members.

OUR ULTIMATE GOAL

100% Member Participation, 100% Total Stewardship-funded Budget.

Our 2025 Stewardship budget is $682,839, pledged by 200 families. This amounts to, on average, $3414 per family per year, $285 per month, $66 per week and $9 per day.

HOW DO I BECOME A SUSTAINING STEWARD?

Return the Stewardship Commitment Form you received in the mail. Alternatively, you can skip the paper card and complete your pledge electronically using the links to the left.

Every year, we ask our faithful to prayerfully review their personal circumstances and cheerfully make a commitment of time, talent, and treasure using a stewardship commitment form. Unfortunately, many in our community view stewardship as a burdensome financial exercise, and not as a cheerful and uplifting spiritual commitment of faith. Filling out your commitment form should be a spiritual experience, not a burden. Think about what you are doing and read the words under the time, talent, and treasure sections – you are making a commitment to Christ and His Church, not to the Parish Council, not to any individual, but to Christ and His Church.

Since your offering of time, talent, and treasure is a personal matter, the only person that should be filling out your stewardship commitment form is YOU (and your spouse when filling the form out as a family). No one knows better than you your own personal / family situation - how richly you have been blessed in the past year, how much time you have to commit to the church, and your God-given or special talents you have to offer in Christ’s service.

Commitments of Time and Talent

There are many opportunities for you to be involved in the life of the Church. The current ministries, committees, and organizations of our Church are:

Church Administration and Leadership

  • Audit Committee
  • Budget/Finance Committee
  • Building Maintenance Committee
  • Estate Planning Committee
  • Greek Festival Steering Committee (Fall & Spring Festivals)
  • Grounds & Maintenance Committee
  • House Committee Investment Committee
  • Nominating & Elections Committee
  • Parish Council (elected positions)
  • Personnel Committee
  • Stewardship Ministry
  • Strategic Planning Committee
  • Youth Ministry

Worship

  • Choir & Chanters
  • Acolytes – Young men ages 8-18 years
  • Welcome Committee/Sunday greeter
  • Epistle reader – Greek or English
  • Baking Prosfora (holy bread)
  • Sewing (altar cloths, robes, etc.)

Communications

  • Cross+Roads newsletter
  • IT consultant
  • Parish website
  • Office volunteer (mailings, answering phones)

Education

  • Religious Education – Pre-K through 12th grade and adults
  • Religious Bookstore
  • Library
  • Pre-marital counseling
  • Adult Baptism and Chrismation preparation & counseling
  • Greek School – 1st Grade to Adult

Outreach Ministries

  • Ladies Philoptochos Society – for women, the philanthropic arm of the Church
  • Missions Ministry
  • PORT – feeding the homeless
  • Sick or Elderly Parishioner Ministry – transportation, visitation, assistance

Service / Social / Fraternal Organizations

  • American Hellenic Educational & Progressive Association (AHEPA) - for men
  • Daughters of Penelope – for women
  • Golden Hearts – ages 55 years and older
  • Hellenic Woman’s Penelope Society (HWPS) – for women

Special Events

  • Cooking – (church, community, other events)
  • Greek Festival Volunteer (Fall & Spring festivals)

Youth & Young Adult Ministries

  • HOPE & JOY (Junior Orthodox Youth)– PreK through 2nd grade (HOPE), 3rd through 6th grade (JOY)
  • Greek Orthodox Youth of America (GOYA) – 7th through 12th grade
  • Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) – college students
  • Hellenic Youth Dancers – ages 5 years to young adult
  • Vacation Bible School
  • Youth Choir – 3rd through 8th grade
  • Young Adult League (YAL) – ages 18 to 35 years

Collection of Your Commitments of Treasure

Weekly Offering Envelopes: Every year, the Church Office provides our parishioners offering envelopes, conveniently labeled for every Sunday of the year. Many of our parishioners make their offerings using these envelopes.

Offering Basket: Your weekly offering envelopes can be placed in the offering tray when passed during Divine Liturgy or in the offering basket on the Pangadi in the Narthex.

Mail: Your offerings can be mailed to the Church Office in either the weekly offering envelope or with a letter or check clearly indicating where the offering is to be directed, i.e. stewardship, memorial, Feast Day, etc.

Online Bill Payment: More and more people handle their financial commitments electronically. This is a very suitable method for offering our “first fruits” to the Lord rather than offering only that which remains. Stewards may very easily set up automatic periodic payments from their bank to the church in fulfillment of their stewardship obligation. A payment module may also be added to the parish web site.

PayPal: There are a number of companies facilitating payment by debit or credit card. We offer this service as another way for parishioners to offer their commitments of treasure.