by Jenn Wagner
When Robin approached me a few weeks ago saying that she needed to talk to me, I was apprehensive. She explained that she wanted me to tell my stewardship story at all three services, and that my witness would be in place of the sermon. You can’t imagine how relieved I was – I thought she was going to ask me to teach Sunday School!
When I prayed about this talk, I asked God to help me express myself clearly. The words “five fun things” popped into my head, which is to say that God answered my prayer right then and there. Ever since Sam and Emma were little, we’ve had a nightly tradition of sharing around the dinner table. Each family member has to tell five fun things for that day. Your five fun things can be things that you did or that happened that day, or that you are excited for in the immediate future. TV shows and video games don’t usually count, but we bend the rules sometimes. In that rule-bending spirit, I’d like to tell you about some of my favorite fun things about St. James’.
My first fun thing about St. James’ is the inclusive community that makes up this congregation. On the first Sunday we visited St. James’, we received such a warm welcome. Patsy Zimmermann saw us walk through the doors with 6-month-old Sam, looking uncertain. She greeted us, introduced herself and showed us the way to the nursery. What a wonderful first impression that was! But it wasn’t actually my very first impression. I graduated from the three-year-olds class of St. James’ Nursery School in 1972. My very first job was helping with the summer reading program of Downingtown Library, held here in the parish hall. When I was 14 and in the confirmation class of Hopewell United Methodist Church, each student had to visit a church of a different denomination and report to the class about it. My assigned church was St. James’. It seems that God has always been drawing me back here. It’s a place where His love manifests itself in the open arms of this congregation. I feel it every time I walk through these doors.
Another fun thing about St. James’ is the love and support we share as a church family. Almost sixteen years ago, Emma arrived eight weeks premature via an emergency C-section right before Christmas. She weighed in at under three pounds and was so tiny that Matt could hold her in one hand. That began the forty-day blur of her time in the Chester County Hospital neonatal intensive care unit. That January was an endless cycle of driving Sam to preschool here at church, racing to the hospital for Emma’s tube feeding, back to church to pick up Sam, home for lunch, chores, dinner, back to the hospital in the evening. Matt and I were run ragged. Then one morning, Father Paul arrived at the NICU. Although the rules only allow for immediate family, the nurse buzzed him right in. He scrubbed in, gowned up, and joined me at Emma’s incubator. I was shocked. I had forgotten that he was family – my St. James’ family. You were here, praying for us and lifting us up for healing and strength. As Father Paul held Emma and prayed over her, I felt nothing but peace. I knew that he was delivering God’s love to both of us, and that we would be fine.
Another fun thing about St. James’ is how it has helped me grow in faith. After Emma came home, I felt strongly that I had to give back some of the encouragement and support that I had received. I decided to train as a Stephen Minister. A Stephen Minister’s mission is to offer a confidential ear and a Christian shoulder to lean on when a parishioner needs support. The training forced me to examine my faith and my relationship with God. I wanted to help people, but who was I to think that I could do that on my own? My training taught me that I was simply a conduit for God’s grace, and I had to relinquish control. I learned to trust Him to give me the right words, guide me to the right scripture, and help me be still and listen. I was privileged to be able to share God’s love and peace with several St. James’ parishioners who were navigating difficult situations and to be with two of them in their final days.
God has blessed me so richly, and many of the gifts he gives me are under this steeple. I receive His grace at this altar. I feel his love through you, my St. James’ family. These gifts cost nothing to give, but they are priceless to me.
I’m not sure what made us pick “five” fun things. It could have been three or seven, but it turned out to be five. I think of the significance of five, and I consider the five fingers of my hand. With a hand, we can reach out and shake hands and welcome someone, which is what St. James’ did for my family. With a hand we can comfort one another in times of anguish and pain. With a hand, we can share and we can give. Giving can take so many forms.
In this time of stewardship, I feel God’s love through my experiences – my fun things – at St. James’, and it reminds me that I’m called to give back to the community that loves and gives me so much. Stewardship is personal, and it continues to be a journey for me. St. James’ deserves good stewards of time, talent and treasure, and I strive to be a worthy steward for you, my St. James’ family, and for my God.