“Everything we have is a gift from God, given for the benefit of others.” We believe stewardship is about making choices, as individuals and in community, and is more than giving money to the church. It is about being faithful disciples, caring for and managing all that God has given us. It is the grateful response to God's grace and goodness. It requires a consideration of how our choices affect us and others, of how we can be good caretakers of the created world, and of how we can best serve God as disciples of Christ. The year-round stewardship program at First Presbyterian Church is vital to the life of our congregation, consisting of activities scheduled throughout the year based on three major components: · Stewardship Education helps the members of the congregation understand the meaning of stewardship both biblically and theologically. Members of all ages are taught the lessons of what it means to be the stewards of the gifts of God. · Mission Interpretation is the way the disciples use the gifts of God to show God’s grace to each other and to the world. An active mission interpretation program helps people understand the opportunities and the results of their stewardship. · Financial Stewardship is the method by which we obtain commitment to the life of discipleship. This is done primarily through a fall giving campaign that provides the means for those commitments to be made. An effective stewardship campaign will be more about the people who are committed to Christ’s work, who display a spirit of generosity and can teach the delight of that to others, than to specialized professional skills. Creative types who can develop bulletin inserts, bulletin boards and other interpretive pieces, can educate and inspire others to spiritual growth and new levels of giving are most needed. Some of the committee members with these skills will also be bankers, accountants, business managers or educators, but their success will be based on their spiritual gifts, rather than their money knowledge. An annual goal will be to identify and enlist the participation of those members who have committed to tithing and want to share their story of giving with others.