November 2016 Edition
Welcome!

Living Water  is the new monthly newsletter of the Northeast Ecumenical Stewardship Council (NESC). With this publication, we hope to further our mission t o assist Christian communities and their lay members and clergy to grow faithful stewards in every generation.  Your feedback is most welcome.

Thanksgiving and the Practice of Gratitude

by Alex Joyner
Ministry Matters

The day before Black Friday
If it seems that Black Friday has been arriving earlier and earlier each year, you're right. The activities of the Friday after Thanksgiving, featuring mad rushes on the doors of retail stores as they offer pre-Christmas sales, have now shifted to Thanksgiving night at many large stores. Macy's, which sponsors a famous parade on Thanksgiving morning, will be opening its doors for shoppers at 5 p.m. the same evening, according to Forbes magazine. Others will surely follow suit. 

Bucking that trend, however, is a large group of major retailers, including Barnes & Noble, Costco and Neiman Marcus, who have announced that they will be closed for the holiday. 


 
Quotable

"We are praying, too, that you will be filled with his mighty, glorious strength so that you can keep going no matter what happens-always full of the joy of the Lord, and always thankful to the Father."  ~ Col. 1:11-12 

Three Stewardship Notions

By Kirk Kubicek
The Episcopal Network for Stewardship

No doubt many of us are in the middle of, or just finishing, the fall pledge campaign.  It is a time of much excitement mingled with anxiety.  What will the final results be?  If the totals - pledges and dollars - are up or down, does that reflect people's attitudes and feelings toward me, the rector or vicar? Will we be able to expand the scope and focus of our mission efforts both inside and outside the parish?
I find myself asking these and dozens of other questions in this season of the year.  My time is probably better spent in prayer and Bible Study!  
 

Stewardship Begins with God's Abundance and Our  Response to it

by JR Lander
The Episcopal Network for Stewardship

I was recently sitting in a meeting of stewardship and development leaders in the Church. In the midst of this meeting, it became clear to me that we as the Church too often see the words 'stewardship', 'development' and 'fundraising' as synonyms.  By doing so, we do a disservice to ourselves and to the important work of all three.

2017 NESC Event: 
'Embracing Stewardship'

March 24-25, 2017
Holiday Inn
Boxborough, MA

Featuring Charles Lane and Grace Duddy Pomroy,  authors of Embracing Stewardship: How to Put Stewardship at the HEART of Your Congregation's LIFE.  

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Jim Thomas , Publisher       
Karen Methot,  Editor