The composer Robert Schumann once wrote a piece of music and sat down at the piano to play it for some friends. They observed that it was very nice, but then asked, “But what does it mean?” “It means this,” Schumann answered, sat down and played it through again.

Stewardship is somewhat like that. “What does it mean?” “It means this,” we say and we do it all over again.

Stewardship, though, is not simply a matter of writing your pledge check, critical though this is. There is much more to it than that as is reflected in the Statement of Stewardship Commitment adopted in August by the Vestry. Among other things, it called the parish “to active practice” of three disciplines: “daily prayer and regular corporate worship; faithful service to needs and concerns; and disciplined proportional financial support.