Good and Faithful Servant: Stewardship in the Orthodox Church

212 Pages·2004·23.883 MB·English

by  Anthony Scott

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GOOD AND
FAITHFUL
VAN
R
E
S
Stewardship
in the
Orthodox Church
EDITED BY ANTHONY SCOTT
_
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
Copley Square
MA02116
Boston.
GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT
Stewardship in the Orthodox Church

GOOD
AND
FAITHFUL
SERVANT
Stewardship in the
Orthodox Church
Edited by
ANTHONY SCOTT
st vladimir’s seminary press
CRESTWOOD, NEW YORK IO707
2003
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Good and faithful servant stewardship in the Orthodox Church / edited by
:
Anthony
Scott,
cm.
p.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-88141-255-4 (alk. paper)
1. Stewardship, Christian. 2. Orthodox Eastern Church-Doctrine.
I. Scott, Anthony (Anthony L.)
BV772.G585 2003
248'.6'o8828i9-dc22
2003058793
©
COPYRIGHT 2003
st vladimir’s seminary press
NY
Scarsdale Road, Crestwood, 10707
575
1-800-204-2665
isbn 0-88141-255-4
All Rights Reserved
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
CONTENTS
Foreword
Brian Gerich 7
I Stewardship of Money in the Early Church:
A Close Reading of Who Is the Rich Man that ShallBe Savedf
by Clement ofAlexandria
Jaroslav Pelikan 13
2
Stewardship and the Tithe in the Old Testament
27
MichaelProkurat
New
3 Stewardship and the Testament
John Barnet 43
4 Healing the Christian Body: An Ancient Syriac Theme
Susan Ashhrook Harvey 57
5 Stewardship as a Way toward Deification:
Some Moral and Social Issues in St Gregory Nazianzen
7i
Hilarion Alfeyev
6
The Power of Detachment in Early Monastic Literature
John Chryssavgis
7 Some Aspects of Stewardship ofthe Church of
Constantinople under Ottoman Turkish Rule (1453-1800)
105
DemetriosJ. Constantelos
9
O
Generosity, Accountability, Vision:
Historical Perspectives on Orthodox Stewardship in America
John H. Erickson 1
1
^ On Stewardship and Philanthropy: Forty Sentences
Thomas Hopko 133
O
X Offering You “Your Own ofYour Own”:
Stewardship in the Liturgy
PaulMeyendorff 153
I I Ethics and Stewardship
Stanley SamuelHarakas 165
I 2, Orthodox America: Philanthropy and Stewardship
Anthony Scott 187
FOREWORD
thank God that Father Anthony Scott had the vision to bring
together Orthodox academics, theologians, and clergy to contribute
I
to this much-needed book on stewardship in the Orthodox Church.
Several ofthe contributors to this book pointedly explain that all we
have-our time, our talent, and our treasure-comes from God and that
God owns everything. That is a very difficult concept for most people to
grasp, especially for Orthodox Christians, both those who migrated from
abroad and those born in this country.
We might ask: Why are our friends in Protestant and Roman Catholic
communities years ahead of us as regards the concept of stewardship? I
know that some will say that it is because we are an “immigrant church.”
However, submit that we now have several generations ofAmerican-born
I
How
Orthodox Christians. does one explain the thousands of American-
born Orthodox Christian men and women in all professions and fields of
employment, from the highest levels as chief executives to the lowest lev-
els, who contribute more oftheir time, talent, and treasure to their colleges,
to their kids’ sports teams, or to their country club rather than to their
church and its salvific mission?
In my opinion, we the laypeople—parents and grandparents—and the
clergy-including the hierarchs-have failed in our duty to teach our chil-
dren and those in our sphere of influence what it means to be an Ortho-
dox Christian. It has only been within the past ten years that I have heard
discussions about stewardship in its broadest form. Many of our spiritual
fathers are uncomfortable discussing or preaching on the subject. Yet, our
salvation depends upon living our lives as faithful stewards. What is going
to happen to our children and grandchildren if they do not learn about
stewardship? Shouldn’t the topic be given a high priority?
7
GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT
8
During the period from 1991 to 1997, I had the privilege of being co-
chair ofthe $20 million capital campaign for St Vladimir’s Orthodox The-
ological Seminary. Additionally, in 1996, the dean of our cathedral and I
started our parish stewardship program, just the two of us. Moreover, for
the past five years I have been the stewardship chair ofthe Western Amer-
ican Diocese ofthe Serbian Church. In 1982, following the teaching ofour
Lord that it is better to give than to receive, my wife and I formed a small,
private family foundation, the Obren B. & Marilyn Gerich Foundation.
During these many years, I have experienced much joy and much frus-
tration related to these assignments. I have had the joy of watching St
Vladimir’s Seminary exceed its $20 million goal. I had the joy of dealing,
for several years, with a 92-year-old Russian widow from Southern Califor-
nia who faithfully contributed hundreds of dollars to her parish, to her
parish in her homeland, to her first parish in the United States (Minneapo-
lis), to St Vladimir’s Seminary, and yet who had only two dresses to her
name and reused the envelopes that her bills came in! Ultimately she gave
50 percent ofher home to the seminary and 50 percent to her parish in Min-
neapolis. Every night, despite failing eyesight, she spent an hour reading
from her large-print Bible.
I also experienced the frustration as stewardship chair ofour cathedral:
watching people give $1.00 per week in the collection plate and call that
tithing! When I asked about a sacrificial, annual stewardship commitment,
the typical response was, “Why do I need to pay more money, since I pay
my
dues of $150 per year?”
Why
are these two real examples—which I have experienced over and
over again-so different? I submit that the Russian widow’s life was Christ-
centered, while the other situation reminds me of the Gospel story of the
beggar Lazarus-only in this case the Church ofJesus Christ got the left-
over crumbs.
In this volume, Fr Anthony Scott describes obstructions to sacrificial
my
giving, including the “dues” system, and in experience, his words meet
the mark (see “Orthodox America: Philanthropy and Stewardship”). Who-
ever initiated the “dues” system in our parishes did a great disservice to the
entire Church. Members feel that paying dues to the parish is the same as
paying dues at their country club or other clubs, but they are incorrect. At
a country club, a budget is prepared which covers all ofthe operating costs,
maintenance reserves, and planned improvements. That total is then