Service

Stewardship

Outreach Ministry

Featured Outreach Opportunities
- Empty Tomb Delivery
- St. Jude Catholic Worker House
- Sack Lunch Program
- Rides to church
- United Thank Offering
- Meals on Wheels
- Youth Group Outreach

Food Pantry/Delivery Program

 

Stewardship

We are all very familiar with the phrase “It is more blessed to give than to receive”. In fact, we first became acquainted with that concept early on, perhaps in Children’s Chapel as I did under the care of Mrs. Adamstone or in Sunday School. Likewise, we all know the wonderfully warm feeling of giving a gift to someone we love … particularly one that we selected with care especially for them. We know what it is like to love someone so much that we want to give them things. We give, not because we feel obligated, but because we wish to.

Let me paraphrase from an article written by Mark Allen Powell. He says that giving to the church as an act of worship is similar to giving a special gift to someone we love very much. We do have an obligation, a duty to support our church’s life and mission, but giving as a reflection of our love for God takes us beyond duty to delight.

In Matthew 6:21 Jesus says “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”. It is not a commandment; it is a promise which holds the key to joy, hope, and enthusiasm. Where you put your treasure is where your heart will follow. According to Mr. Powell, there is a close connection between generous giving and spiritual devotion; spiritually mature Christians give generously of their money. We often put our money where our heart is. How much money do we spend annually on sporting events, clothes, and eating out? But Jesus says that it can work the other way around as well. In fact, what we do with our money affects us on a deep, spiritual level. As Mr. Powell points out “the point is not how we spend our money as a determinant of what sort of people we are. The point is that how we spend our money determines the sort of people we become”. The good news is that we can become the people we would like to be…we can decide who we want to be by committing our time, money, and talents to those things that we wish to care about … such as our parish and its ministries.

Jesus tells us give of your treasure and your heart will follow. If you are not the person you want to be – you consider yourself to be a work in progress -- then give as the person you would like to be and let your heart catch up. Powell reminds us that “it is often easier to act oneself into a new way of thinking than to think oneself into a new way of acting. Our behavior determines who we become, and this is especially true when it comes to hearts and treasure. Stewardship is the surest path to spirituality”.

Bishop Beckwith wrote in one of his commentaries in the diocesan newsletter that “Stewardship is the way by which Christians move God from the periphery of their lives to the center of them. True stewardship begins with… the personal need of each one of us to return to God an appropriate and truly grateful portion of our resources in thanksgiving for all that God has given us”.

In all honesty I do not feel that last year’s stewardship campaign was an accurate reflection of the people that we are and the values that we hold. Nor do I believe that it was an adequate first offering of our resources in thanksgiving to God. Last year, many in this parish were caught up in the unsettled political climate surrounding the diocese and the national church.

Instead of pledging and giving back to God using our hearts, we allowed our heads to rule over our offering. Conditions and limitations were placed on gifts. Let us ask ourselves: Do we really want to offer a gift to God with strings attached when He gives to us so freely and abundantly? Being good stewards of God’s gifts to us simply means returning to God a portion of what we have been given without strings. Stewardship brings all of our resources – self, life, energy, talent, skill, time – and lays them at the feet of God.

I wish to make one final remark regarding our campaign and the need for the funds on which this parish operates. Our offerings of worship, ministry, and outreach are dictated by budgetary parameters. Additionally, as a result of the long-term planning that our Vestry has been working so hard on for the past year, we are at a point in time where we are turning over a new leaf in our parish life and starting over with renewed commitment and energy. Now is the opportunity for you to underwrite what you’ve asked for at the strategic planning retreat last fall. All of these things that we want have cost associated with them. It is up to us to give the Vestry enough funding from this year’s campaign to proceed with the execution and initialization of our wishes.

Outreach Ministry

The Vestry continued to function as the Christian Social Concerns Committee throughout 2007. A subcommittee met in early January 2008 to consider all requests for funds and to allocate the outreach monies in the budget.

Please feel free to browse among the outreach opportunites below. To become involved in any of these on-going ministries, please contact
the Parish Office at 352-9827.

Featured Outreach Opportunities

For the past year, each month, one of the organizations that Emmanuel supports through its outreach budget has been featured in our parish newsletter, Messenger. This is a repeat of one of those columns listing the on-going volunteer opportunities through EMEC. A large thank you goes to the parishioners who are already involved in these important ministries. This work would not be possible without a continuing stream of volunteers and there is always room for more help!

Empty Tomb Delivery: Once a week (usually on a Friday or Saturday), Emmanuel receives a referral from the empty tomb of a local family in need of food. The volunteer who delivers the food first gathers the non-perishable food from the church's food pantry and supplements it with fresh food purchased at a local grocery store. The volunteer receives the name and address of the family as well as any special food needs. The Parish Office provides the money to the volunteer deliverer to purchase the additional food. In 2007, there were 160 adults and children fed through food deliveries coordinated by Emmanuel Parish. Time involved: about one to two hours every two or three months. Other ways to be involved are to donate canned goods or dry food for the church pantry or to donate money for the fresh food supplements. Items in short supply are listed weekly in the Sunday bulletin announcements. (See more detailed report from Lois Rath, chair, following Featured Outreach Opportunity).

St. Jude's Catholic Worker House: Each day a volunteer from Emmanuel delivers two gallons of milk for the families residing at the house at 317 S. Randolph in Champaign. In 2007, almost two dozen parish families/individuals brought milk to the house. The sign-up sheet for this ministry is on the counter in the Great Hall. Time involved: 30 minutes per delivery.

Sack Lunch Program: Each weekday two dozen lunches are given out from the EMEC office door to those who would otherwise not have any food. These lunches are sacked by volunteers from food purchased from the Eastern Illinois Foodbank and Sam's Club. Our sack lunch program is the only one of its kind in town so the Food Bank generously notifies us when they have received a food item particularly suitable for the lunches. The efforts of everyone involved in this program are greatly appreciated, not only by the recipients of the lunches, but by the staff. In 2007, there were 5,092 sack lunches distributed from the EMEC office doors. Time involved: Two hours twice a month. Volunteers may do this once a year or more often, as desired.

Rides to church: There are parishioners who need rides to church
services and events. Time involved: Varies depending on need.

United Thank Offering: The United Thank Offering supports many projects at the diocesan, National and world-wide church levels. There are UTO Ingatherings twice a year. A coordinator is needed for these Ingatherings. Time Involved: About two to three hours twice a year for organizational work.

Meals on Wheels: EMEC is responsible for two MOW routes the first two weeks of August each year. Four people are needed each day for the deliveries. Time involved: 1 ½ hours a day. You may sign up for one day or multiple days.

Youth Group Outreach: The Youth Group does several outreach projects each year. Over the past two years these have included assisting the Crisis Nursery, the TIMES Center, the Catholic Worker House and the Swann Special Care Center. Chaperones are needed for these outreach projects. Time involved: Two hours each project.

The Food Pantry/Delivery Program

The food delivery that our parish makes each week to people in need is one of the most important and gratifying ministries in which to be involved. Empty Tomb identifies people who truly are in need of a week's worth of groceries due to extreme hardship or misfortune. Canned and dry goods, along with fresh meats, produce, and dairy products and household supplies were provided this past year to single persons and families of up to eight individuals. These recipients were truly grateful for this outreach program and the opportunity to receive short-term assistance until they were able to provide independently for themselves once again.

Thanks to the many parishioners who supply food for the food pantry in our church kitchen. In addition to the food and household items, cash from the Outreach funds from our annual budget pays for the perishable items.