Read Scripture carefully, and you will notice how non-anxious Jesus usually is. People, whether his opponents or his disciples, try to lure him into their circles of anxiety, and he resists. Jesus had quite a lot to say about avoiding anxiety. Of course, he said nothing about biological and chemical predispositions to anxiety, which are very real and beyond our control in some ways, but Jesus’s words, on a spiritual level, are helpful, nonetheless. “Do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on” (Matthew 6:25). And “do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day” (Matthew 6:34).
There are many other examples from Scripture of Jesus refusing to take the bait of anxiety. The problem with anxiety is that it wants to be passed on. It’s like a bad gift that no one wants to keep. We instinctively want others to take on our anxiety, as if that would make us feel better. But Jesus invites us into trust, but more concretely, into proactivity. In the feeding of the 5,000 (if you recall from last week’s message), the disciples are anxious that there’s not enough for the massive crowd to eat. “You give them something to eat,” Jesus says. If only they could trust that there was enough to go around, they would stop fretting and try to do something about it!
This season of stewardship is a summons into a stance of proactivity rather than reactivity. I don’t need to enumerate the ways in which reactivity has been a disastrous part of our own parish’s history. But over the past four years, I believe we’ve moved into a more proactive posture. The parish’s leadership no longer spend much time fretting and worrying about money (even though we have significant financial challenges). Rather, the parish leaders recognize our many challenges and say, what can we do about it? Let’s make a plan. This is the heart of our five-year plan for fiscal sustainability. All our talk about this plan is not an obsession with money. It’s about being honest that it takes money and vision to do the ministry to which God is calling us. We need to talk about money. We have to talk about money. If we’re resistant to talking about it, then there is perhaps a spiritual issue within us that we need to confront.
So, rather than worrying ceaselessly about drawing too much money from our meager investments, our vestry has said, “Okay, let’s look at five years and see how we can get from here to there, from a deficit budget to a balanced budget.” Over the past few weeks, the Advancement Committee has been explaining why we continue to increase our pledge goal each year. What will such an increase support? For one, increased pledged giving supports expanded ministry, like our new, thriving chorister program. It supports fair compensation for our hard-working staff. But it also supports proactive care of our magnificent buildings and property.
There are over 15,440 square feet of property on this campus, all of which we must maintain. Some of it we rent out, but we are still responsible for caring for this property, which ultimately belongs to the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. By canon law, we are entrusted by the diocese to steward this property. And much of it is well over a hundred years old, some buildings dating from the late 19th century. Needless to say, there is a large amount of deferred maintenance on our campus. We could worry and fret about this space. But the parish’s leaders have decided to say, “what a gift from God! What a gift to the local community! What priceless space to be used for Gospel ministry.” Maintaining 15,440 square feet of property can’t be done by a staff of two part-time employees, a full-time priest, and a part-time financial administrator. The vestry recently agreed to hire Kevin Loughery, a local contractor, to spend up to five hours a week (as an independent contractor) to tend to building and property needs. You may recall that Kevin was responsible for the gorgeous renovations of the retreat house a couple of years ago. Kevin is a wonderful human being and a gifted craftsman. Already, his presence on campus has helped us care more proactively for our buildings.
Speaking of buildings and property, I invite you to join me and others for a workday in our Memorial Garden tomorrow, October 26, from 1 to 3 p.m. The Memorial Garden (on the side of the church near the circle drive) is the resting place of the mortal remains of two parishioners, with room for many more burials. As we approach All Souls’ Day and as a gesture of love for those who have been laid to rest in the garden, we will clean up the garden and begin envisioning a plan for its future. Register in Realm to let us know you’ll be there, or simply show up!
A proactive stance towards our buildings and property requires an increase in our budget in 2025. This is only one way in which pledged giving allows Good Shepherd to thrive and continue to be a stable presence of spiritual depth in the local community and wider Church. This year’s appeal from our Advancement Committee is one that invites us to echo what our vestry has been doing over the past few years—to be risky in generosity. The Gospel demands nothing less than utterly reckless, sacrificial giving of all that we have and all that we are.
If we listened only to the constant voices of anxiety in our culture, we might be incapacitated by fear. But we at Good Shepherd have chosen to listen to our Lord. Why worry about tomorrow’s troubles? Why worry or fret at all? God knows the number of hairs on our heads. God knows our troubles and our challenges. And God also provides. God has given us enough. Now, gracious Lord, give us the eyes to see it.
Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle