Written for the General Board of Discipleship,

The United Methodist Church, 2010

Stewardship is whatever we do with what God has entrusted to us by the way that we live.

In response to God’s outpouring love and covenant faithfulness, we live out of God’s abundance instead of the illusion of scarcity thinking. We seek to nurture generous living in ourselves and others, affirming the redemptive power of the gospel of Jesus Christ and expressing our confidence in God’s transforming work among us.

This beautiful natural world is a loving gift from God. Together we pledge ourselves to assist God’s vision of creation’s renewal, to advocate for justice and peace, to measure our carbon footprint, and to practice hope as we support transforming ministries, becoming better stewards of God’s creation.¹

Trusting in the presence of the Risen Christ and of the Holy Spirit among us, we embrace the spiritual discipline of first fruits living: offering to God the first and the best of all that God has given us and managing all the rest according to God’s generosity. This daily practice includes giving our prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness on God’s behalf.

¹ – Adapted from the United Methodist Council of Bishops’ Pastoral letter in God’s Renewed Creation: Call to Hope and Action, 2009.

See also: Stewardship in Living Context