To the clergy, monastics, and faithful of the Orthodox Church in America, beloved children in the Lord,
Christ is in our midst!
As I greet you on this annual Stewardship Sunday, I reflect with gratitude on the many blessings of God’s merciful provision. I am grateful for the common bounties we enjoy—the air we breathe, the sun and the stars, the rain and the wind, animals and plants, the life of the mind, the protection of the angels, the words of the Gospel, rebirth in the baptismal font, the pledge of the Spirit, the hope of life everlasting. These free gifts of nature and of grace constantly remind us of the goodness of the Giver.
Each of us also enjoys many particular blessings, both spiritual and material. We all have talents, gifts of the Spirit, and material resources. However, these particular blessings are given to us, not so that we can selfishly hoard them, but so that we can share them with others.
Today, as we consider the Christian vocation to good stewardship, we have the opportunity to reflect on the way in which our special gifts can be turned to the common benefit of the Church. One has only to look at the resources available on the website of the Orthodox Church in America. Skilled musicians have used their time and talent to create free resources for daily worship from which we all may benefit: rubrics, service outlines, sheet music, and more. Experienced pastors and educators have produced helpful articles, catechetical resources, and Sunday School curricula. Forward-thinking and discerning leaders dispense planting grants for new missions. This is all the work of the Departments of the Orthodox Church in America.
On this Stewardship Sunday, we are all given the opportunity to contribute our own blessings to the life of our Church. By pledging our financial support to the Stewards of the Orthodox Church in America, we are able to make our own contribution the work of the Department of Liturgical Music and Translation; the Department of Christian Education; the Department of Youth, Young Adult, and Campus Ministry; and more.
In assisting the Stewards of the Orthodox Church in America, we are all able to fulfill our basic human vocation of offering back to God his own of his own, on behalf of all and for all; we are all able to participate in the building up of the Church and the sharing of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Therefore, I ask each of you, on this annual Stewardship Sunday, prayerfully to consider contributing your own two mites to this godly work.
With my primatial prayers and blessing, and also my gratitude for your faithfulness and generosity,
+TIKHON
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada