The term “stewardship” when applied to our parish, includes our time, talents, and treasure that we share. Our time and talents can be shared as volunteers, to help teams of others in carrying out the ministries of St John’s: helping with community outreach programs; assisting with congregational development ministries, like coffee hours, parish meals, visiting shut-ins, worship planning, etc. Doing this volunteering is a very important part of our Christian faith:
“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my faith.” — James 2:14-18
Time and talents
The “Welcome” pamphlet has a description of some of the ministries of St John’s. Please consider joining one or more of our ministry teams by calling the parish office (905-885-2171) or by e-mailing stjohns@stjohnschurchph.ca
Treasure Trove, one of St John’s major outreach ministries
treasure
The third part of parish stewardship is the financial support we provide for the parish property and staff. These parish resources are the responsibility of every member of St John’s, as faithful stewards of these gifts that we all share. We each have different abilities to provide our gifts of treasure, but in doing this, we recognize that we are simply returning some of what has been given to us by God. This is one of the foundations of our faith:
“Everyone must give according to what (they) inwardly decide; not sadly, not grudgingly, for God loves a cheerful giver.” — Corinthians 2 9:7
How much should I give?
This is a personal decision. To guide you, the Diocese of Toronto has provided some statistics from our 183 parishes:
The average annual gift by donor in the diocese was $1,730 in 2023
About 40% of those who make donations across the diocese use Pre-Authorized Giving (PAG) – this ensures that your gift enables ministry even when you can’t attend
About half of our parishes report that at least 50% of their donors use PAG
We encourage church members to consider giving 2.5% of their household income as a minimum standard. If we achieved this level of financial stewardship, most parishes would be able to meet all their ministry costs.
For more ‘food for thought’ please see this article from April 2024 in The Toronto Anglican: