The following article was written by the Reverend Canon J. Hugh Magers and was published in the July 2007 issue of Networking (the newsletter of The Episcopal Network for Stewardship). Canon Magers starts out with a rather blunt assessment of the relationship between parishioners and the amount of their giving. But, as you'll see, there's a purpose to his approach. By the end of the article, you'll see the profound connections he draws among giving, witnessing and evangelism.

"It's not just that you have more money if you have more people. In fact, it's just backwards from that. I was working with a large parish in the southeast. It was in the middle of a giving crunch. I ran the numbers. The generation of folk born between 1962 and 1985 were averaging $145 per household, per year. They made up 22% of the members of the parish. It costs about $27 on average, per person, in the pew, per Sunday. If one of these folks came to church every Sunday, the parish lost $1259 per year on that person.

"My hunch is we can't stand a lot of that. In the same parish, though, there were people born in that generation who gave very generously. Many of those tithed. Some gave beyond the tithe. Without exception, those people were able to talk about their personal faith in very powerful ways. They were not afraid to use the "J" word. They could tell about how God had blessed them. They could talk about joy and peace in their lives coming as a consequence of their relationship with Jesus and they were grateful. They expressed some of their gratitude in money. Some of them talked about God giving them the opportunity to tithe and giving them the freedom from financial anxiety.

"My second hunch is that these grateful, obedient and blessed ones look like they are from a different planet to those who don't get it. Well, they are. The new world they are from is called Planet God. That parish's stewardship program this fall will include opportunities for those who get it to tell their stories to those who don't.

"Historically, we have called this witnessing. It is an essential part of evangelism. Evangelism is telling someone our story and then inviting them to respond. Asking folks to give money at the same time is an evangelical act. Jesus said it: "Where your treasure is, your heart will be also." I believe that if I can be part of a work that leads people to tithe, then the church is blessed with funding and I am blessed with a friend for eternity. At a minimum, 10% of that person's heart will be in heaven.

"Money is such a power and source of anxiety in our lives that thinking about it is scary. Changing what we do with it calls for major change in our way of being and doing. We need help. Our help is in the name of the Lord. Stewardship work is primarily evangelism."