With the arrival of the current fiscal crisis in the US to say that we live in uncertain times is not novel or surprising. The crisis has us all on edge. No one knows what the future holds for our economy and therefore for our own economic security.

Fortunately this country has strong and resilient people and we believe that the long-term outlook is good. For in the near-term, however, everyone is concerned about what the future holds.

How do we look at stewardship, and in particular the part that involves giving our treasure to the church, in times like these?  Well, Bishop Sheen said it best. He said, "Thank goodness we live in times like these. Now people can see what Christians are really like."

There is no question that there is a profound spiritual element to the crisis we currently face in America. It should come as surprise to no one that when a culture abandons spiritual values that culture begins to suffer from all sorts of spiritual ailments. We can list greed, rage, depression, rising crime, soaring divorce rates and the decline of sexual morals all as symptoms of the spiritual crisis that is accompanying and may have even caused or contributed to our current financial storm.

In this spiritual desert, our church home, St. Andrew's, is a spiritual oasis for all of us. It is the place where we receive and experience our spiritual values. It is the very context or fabric in which we live our Christian life. In times like these it becomes very clear to us that the church is not a building but the church is us. In order to live up to the promise of what Bishop Sheen saw (a living, vibrant, and witnessing Christian community), we all need St. Andrew's.

This is where stewardship fits in. It is a simple fact that without continuing sharing of our treasure there would be no St. Andrew’s. And just as we face economic uncertainty in our families now, our church family shares these same concerns. So as we plan for our own families during the upcoming year, we need to keep in mind the place of spiritual values in our family's life and to provide for it by giving to St. Andrew's. This will show that we realize how important this kind of spiritual foundation will be in the days ahead.

 -- From St. Andrew’s  The Messenger, November 2008