Stewardship – God is Love
The following thoughts were shared by Shirley Hutchings during our Sunday Holy Eucharist service on September 27th. Shirley and her family are long-time members of Trinity and she is involved in all kinds of shared ministry, from the Thrift Shop to the production of our famous cookie trays at the Christmas Bazaar.
I wasn’t a cradle Episcopalian. I was a cradle Baptist, right here at North Scituate Baptist Church – “God’s House.”
It was there that I learned that Gods is Love and I believed God loved ALL of us, no matter what, and he wanted us to love everyone, too. God also wanted us to spread his love to others by doing good deeds and helping those in need. Sound familiar? Pretty direct, and I believed!
Then I also learned that God couldn’t do all this without some help. He needed money to maintain his house and he needed our time, talents, and special gifts to bring his love to our church family and the community.
A lot to understand for a kid of 5, but I got enough to put it into action.
Every Sunday, dressed in my best, I would put my dime in the Sunday school envelope and marched off to Sunday school to give it to God. Now a dime may not seem very much, but in 1952, it bought two ice cream cones at Potters Store down the street. I wanted to give a talent too, so I joined the Cherub Choir, “belting out” our favorites. God is Love.
When our daughter Sara was five, we were the occasioned church goers, no ties, no commitment. While Sara was attending Pumpkin Patch Nursery School, Caryl Frink (the school’s Music Coordinator and wife of Jim Frink, rector here at Trinity) she said, “Shirley, where do you go to church?” And I said, “We belong to St. Barnabas.” She responded, “No, I asked where you go to church?”
I know I must have gulped, and guiltily replied, “We don’t.” And Caryl said, “Come to Trinity!” And that’s all it took, a simple invitation, and I was hooked.
Sara started Sunday School that September and I, you guessed it, was helping at the Turkey Supper. I had once again found my spiritual home, a church family that was warm, welcoming, and accepting–a family of love, compassion and service, a base where I and my family could learn, pray, worship, and join in fellowship–a place where God’s love shone bright and still does.
It’s been 43 years since that decision to join Trinity. Years full of joy growth, change, sometimes frustrations, but God’s Love still prevails, especially in our ministries. I truly believe all the ministries are important. I have served many of them, but those of outreach and service to others, including Meal angels, thrift shop, our food pantry, Sunday School, and church family service projects have been most near and dear to my heart. We are making a difference in the lives of others. We do indeed feed people spiritually, and physically. Our church family walks it’s talk.
And that is why we continue to pledge. Ed and I are now in our “Senior Years” of church ministry work. We are now on the receiving end. We leave Sara and Callie, the next two generations, to carry on. I am visually impaired, we both have bad knees, and as many of you know, Ed is in an ongoing battle with cancer. With God’s grace, modern medicine, and our friends and church family’s prayers and support, we continue to face the ups and downs of the disease.
You have provided prayers, visits, pastoral visits, meals, safety features for our house, more meals, cards, phone calls, and when neither of us was able to drive, rides to the doctors, and rides to and from church service and ministry work. God’s love has been obvious, and we truly appreciate it. Thank you, God Bless you all. Please join us in pledging to trinity, and getting involved in our church family ministries.
