{"id":20999,"date":"2026-01-12T11:04:56","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T11:04:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stjameschurchabinger.org\/?page_id=20999"},"modified":"2026-01-15T12:04:49","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T12:04:49","slug":"christian-stewardship","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.stjameschurchabinger.org\/?page_id=20999","title":{"rendered":"Christian Stewardship"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"20999\" class=\"elementor elementor-20999\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-35a40619 header e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"35a40619\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1d7b0e78 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"1d7b0e78\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6b3dba1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"6b3dba1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Christian Stewardship<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2a0e501 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"2a0e501\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2955e60 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2955e60\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>What is it?<\/strong><\/p><p>Christian stewardship is the belief that everything \u2014 time, talents, money, possessions, relationships, and the Earth \u2014 belongs to God, and humans are called to be faithful managers (stewards) of these resources for His purposes, using them wisely, serving others, and reflecting His glory, not their own. It&#8217;s a whole-life responsibility involving generous giving, responsible management, caring for creation, and using gifts to build God&#8217;s kingdom, with accountability to Him as the ultimate owner and as churches in the Surrey Hills we are looking at how we respond to God\u2019s generosity.<\/p><p><strong>Core Principles<\/strong><\/p><ul><li><strong>God as Owner:<\/strong>\u00a0God owns everything, and Christians are merely caretakers.<\/li><li><strong>Accountability:<\/strong>\u00a0Stewards are responsible to God for how they manage His entrusted gifts.<\/li><li><strong>Purposeful Living:<\/strong>\u00a0Using resources to fulfil God-given goals, not just personal gain.\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><p><strong>Key Areas of Stewardship<\/strong><\/p><ul><li><strong>Time:<\/strong>\u00a0Using time wisely for meaningful activities, service, and rest.<\/li><li><strong>Talents\u00a0&amp; Abilities:<\/strong>\u00a0Developing and using spiritual gifts and skills to serve others.<\/li><li><strong>Finances:<\/strong>\u00a0Managing money responsibly through saving, avoiding debt, and generous giving (tithes\/offerings).<\/li><li><strong>Possessions and Environment:<\/strong>\u00a0Caring for the Earth (creation) and using material goods responsibly.<\/li><li><strong>Relationships:<\/strong>\u00a0Honouring God in family, community, and all interactions, treating others with love.\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><p><strong>Practical Application<\/strong><\/p><ul><li><strong>Work as Worship:<\/strong>\u00a0Doing jobs and tasks as if working for the Lord (Colossians 3:23-24).<\/li><li><strong>Generosity:<\/strong>\u00a0Giving back a portion of earnings and resources to God and His work.<\/li><li><strong>Simplicity:<\/strong>\u00a0Living within means, avoiding excess.<\/li><li><strong>Service:<\/strong>\u00a0Using gifts to build up the church and kingdom.\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><p>In essence, Christian stewardship is a lifestyle of gratitude and faithfulness, recognizing that all aspects of life are gifts from God to be managed for His glory and the good of His world.\u00a0<\/p><p>To this end St. James\u2019 have been prayerfully reflecting on how they can faithfully respond to the needs in our community and the world. St. James\u2019 currently have three mission partners (which are reviewed regularly): <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stjameschurchabinger.org\/charity\/\">Dorking Foodbank, Amber, Compassion<\/a> including Fountain of Peace. Following two life-changing trips to Uganda to visit Fountain of Peace by Rosie McCance and Lucy Pakenham, Lucy and Libby Harlow, the PCC voted to help with their fundraising initiative to build accommodation for the nannies and the volunteers. Thanks to our regular givers and one-off donations the PCC felt called and delighted to be able to contribute towards this.<\/p><p>Across the two churches we are currently reviewing our stewardship policies in order to be able to respond to the needs of our churches, our community and the world. If you would like more information, do please contact me.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-daf5bc3 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"daf5bc3\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8245dbe elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"8245dbe\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h5>Rev\u2019d Kia Pakenham, January 2026 &#8211;\u00a0 rector@abingerandcoldharbour.org<\/h5>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Christian Stewardship What is it? Christian stewardship is the belief that everything \u2014 time, talents, money, possessions, relationships, and the Earth \u2014 belongs to God, and humans are called to be faithful managers (stewards) of these resources for His purposes, using them wisely, serving others, and reflecting His glory, not their own. It&#8217;s a whole-life &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stjameschurchabinger.org\/?page_id=20999\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Christian Stewardship&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_angie_page":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-20999","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stjameschurchabinger.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stjameschurchabinger.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stjameschurchabinger.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stjameschurchabinger.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stjameschurchabinger.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20999"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.stjameschurchabinger.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21054,"href":"https:\/\/www.stjameschurchabinger.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20999\/revisions\/21054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stjameschurchabinger.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}