Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ

This week’s gospel lesson (for those that follow the Revised Common Lectionary) is the parable of the talents, a great illustration of stewardship.  How does worship connect with stewardship?

There is a multitude of ways to empower people to use their gifts in worship.  Pastors could set aside a group of lay preachers to read through the texts and process the material; these lay leaders could preach on Sundays when the pastor must be gone, or they could lead worship for the homebound or those in care facilities.

Assisting ministers are another great way to empower worship leaders in your congregation.  Assisting ministers can lead the prayers and other parts of the liturgy and help serve communion.  In my congregation, we have a senior pastor, an associate pastor, but we still make sure we have assisting ministers so that the “work of the people” is still central to worship and it has a fringe benefit of allowing us to designate a presider and a preacher—that way, the one giving the sermon doesn’t have to focus on all of the other logistics of worship that day.

I’ve also been tempted to do weekly or monthly worship planning meetings and open them up to the whole congregation—whomever wishes to participate and share their ideas is welcome.  This lets the congregation get a behind-the-scenes look at how we plan worship, and it also affords them some ownership of the process.

Another idea: Thanksgiving is coming up shortly, and my congregation actively contributes to the food pantry in our community.  As a way of connecting worship with stewardship, during the offering at our Thanksgiving Eve services I typically have the ushers bring up the grocery bags of food that have been donated that week.  It helps people recognize that offering is more than money, and that the gifts we have to offer extend beyond the four walls of the sanctuary—it’s not just about keeping the lights on and paying people’s salaries.

How do you live out connections to stewardship in your worship?  What other ideas might you suggest?