Anticipation mounted on Sunday morning as the congregation at St. Peter’s were welcomed with balloons, mood lighting and colourful bulletin boards. The service started with a procession into church being led to a chant of “Praise the Lord”. The procession came to a climax when a huge party popper was set off by the altar! This was the explosive launch of our Season of Stewardship; Up, Out, In. The campaign will run over the next 8 weeks. During this time we will be looking at 5 different themes exploring how stewardship is needed to build up our lives together as a congregation, as a church and as a ministry. We will be looking at where we are currently and where we need to be moving forwards. 1. The purpose of God – 22nd September 2. Being generous – 13th October 3. We all belong, don’t we? – 20th October 4. Time, talents and treasure – 27th October 5. Celebration Service – 17th November To encourage and help us focus our prayer time, prayer slips will be available throughout the season. These will be available to download using the download links. The first edition also includes 2 questions for us to ponder which will be revisited in week 4. The question was asked of us – “what is the season of stewardship?” to which answers included: “Learning to look after God’s church, including every member” “Looking after and caring for people” During the service we were reminded that being a steward is our primary function in life. Every moment of our lives we are being stewards of something, be it our family, home or garden. In Genesis Ch 1 we were called to look after everything that God has created. Although we have a season dedicated to stewardship, this is a continuous process, all day, every day, 24/7. Being a good steward gives us peace, otherwise we descend into chaos, get stressed & lose our peace. One definition of church stewardship is – “Church stewardship is about checking whether the ways we are serving God are achieving His purposes, for His church – and whether we are doing what God wants us to do, with the resources He has already so generously given us.” The idea for Up, Out, In comes from the song “The Die has been cast” whose chorus is: I've got to get up, I've got to get out, I've got to get in The purpose of God. which the congregation sang with gusto supported by a fully manned worship band. The name “Up, Out, In” was broken down and explored further. People’s interpretations and insights have been written on boards in the church foyer. These will be left here throughout the season for people to add further comments to. The full service can be watched on Facebook using this link https://fb.watch/uN0GJG-53a/. The service ended with a reassuring and encouraging round of applause!
