Tens: The Episcopal Network for Stewardship

06/11/2026

Meditation, Reflection, and Preaching on Proper 6, Year A? Here is a sermon starter to help with this challenging text.

Matthew 9:35–10:8(9–23)
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus looks out over the crowds and sees them “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” His response is not irritation, blame, or retreat. His response is compassion. He sees the need clearly, and then he calls his disciples into the work. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” He gives them authority to heal, cleanse, raise, and cast out, and sends them first to the lost sheep of Israel with a simple proclamation: “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” This mission is beautiful, but it is not sentimental. Jesus is honest that the work will be difficult. The disciples will face rejection, conflict, fear, and vulnerability. They are sent out with power, but not with control.

That makes this a bracing but honest stewardship text. The gifts God gives are not entrusted to us so that we can remain safe, admired, or undisturbed. They are given for the sake of a world that is harassed and helpless, beloved and aching. Stewardship is the practice of joining Christ’s compassion with our own lives: our money, buildings, leadership, relationships, courage, and time. “You received without payment; give without payment,” Jesus says. This is not a call to depletion, but to trust. The mission belongs to God before it belongs to us. We are not asked to fix every wound or harvest every field. We are asked to go where Christ sends us, to offer what we have received, and to let generosity become a sign that the kingdom has come near.

06/10/2026

Hello Diocese of Huron! Two exciting days of Stewardship workshops this weekend! Friday for clergy, Saturday for laypeople. Diocese of Huron come join us!

06/09/2026

Week 2 June - Year of Living Generously Tip of the Month: The Stewardship of Rest

June is a good month for us to remember that we are also stewards of our time, and that rest is an important part of our summer (and, as it turns out, our theology!)

Bless the Summer Rest
Offer a brief prayer or blessing during Sunday worship for those entering a different summer rhythm: travelers, teachers, students, camp staff, seasonal workers, caregivers, and those who cannot take vacation. This reminds the congregation that rest is not an escape from faithfulness, but part of how God restores us for love and service. A church could include a “Blessing of Summer Rest” on the first Sunday after school lets out, with a simple prayer over calendars, backpacks, beach bags, walking shoes, or even tired hands.

06/06/2026

Happy Pride Month! Seek. Serve. Heal. Feed. Visit. Love!

06/05/2026

Teaching, preaching, and reflection for Proper 5 - Year A
Matthew 9:9-13; 18-26

In Matthew 9, Jesus moves through a world full of people who have been pushed to the margins: a tax collector at his booth, sinners at the table, a grieving leader pleading for his daughter, and a woman who has suffered for twelve years reaching out in desperation. The religious leaders are scandalized by the company Jesus keeps, but Jesus answers plainly: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” He has not come to reward the already-righteous or preserve the boundaries of respectability. He has come with mercy. Again and again in this passage, Jesus crosses lines others are afraid to cross. He eats with the wrong people, touches the untouchable, listens to the desperate, and restores life where hope seems already gone.

That is a stewardship lesson as much as it is a healing story. Stewardship is not simply the careful management of what we already have; it is the faithful offering of our lives for the mercy-shaped mission of God. Jesus says, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice,” reminding us that our giving, our leadership, our budgets, and our ministries must be measured not only by what they preserve, but by whom they welcome, heal, and restore. The gifts entrusted to us are not meant to reinforce distance between “us” and “them.” They are meant to draw us closer to the places where Christ is already reaching out. Generous stewardship asks: Who is waiting at the edge of the crowd? Who has been overlooked at the table? Where is God calling us to spend our resources so that mercy may become visible?

06/03/2026

Year of Living Generously Tip of the Month: The Stewardship of Rest

June is a good month for us to remember that we are also stewards of our time, and that rest is an important part of our summer (and, as it turns out, our theology!)

Hold a Sabbath Audit
Invite vestry members, ministry leaders, and staff to review the church calendar and ask: What gives life? What drains life? What have we kept doing simply because we have always done it? This is a stewardship activity because time is one of the congregation’s most precious shared resources, and faithful leadership means noticing where that time is being spent. A parish might dedicate 20 minutes of a June vestry meeting to identifying one meeting, event, or task that could be paused, simplified, or retired.

05/30/2026

Trinity Sermon got you stumped this year? Here’s a reflection from TENS. Trinity - Year A
Matthew 28: 16-20

On Trinity Sunday, it can be tempting to explain God as if God were a puzzle to be solved. But in Matthew 28, Jesus does not give the disciples a doctrine lecture. He gives them a commission. They meet the risen Christ on a mountain, and even there, some worship while some doubt. Jesus sends all of them anyway. “Go therefore and make disciples,” he says, “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The Trinity is not an abstract idea removed from daily life. The Trinity is the name of the God who creates, redeems, sustains, sends, and stays. The Trinity is not a riddle to master, but a relationship to enter, a mission to share, and a promise to trust.

That is deeply connected to stewardship. We are not managing our resources for a distant God. We are participating in the life and mission of the God who is relationship itself. Everything entrusted to us — our money, buildings, gifts, stories, wisdom, and welcome — becomes part of that sending. Jesus does not wait for perfect certainty before calling the disciples into mission. He blesses worship and doubt together, and promises, “I am with you always.” Stewardship begins there: in the confidence that God is with us, God is for the world, and God sends us to live as generous signs of divine love.

05/27/2026

Explore our summer readings that inspire generosity and stewardship! 🌼📚
https://conta.cc/49sUiAq

Email from TENS Costly Grace: We are Called as Stewards into God's Kingdom | In Memoriam - Tom Gossen   Summer Readings and Resources Year of Living Generously: Rest: A holy invitation Celebrating the

05/26/2026

For those who are able to celebrate the life of Tom Gossen with his friends and family, services will be held at St. James' Episcopal Church Wichita, Kansas on Saturday, May 30 at 11AM.

Gifts in memory of Tom are invited and will be used to further his legacy of stewardship at TENS. https://www.tens.org/support-tens/

05/22/2026

We learned today with great sadness about the sudden death of Tom Gossen, founder of TENS, on May 19. We were blessed to meet him and his wife, Diane, in January when they made the trip from Wichita to Kansas City to share stories of thirty years of TENS with our board and staff. His life of abundant hope inspires us as we share the good news of Stewardship with our Church. We grieve with those who loved him as we stand on his shoulders in the ministry of generosity and gratitude. If you have a memory, a word of gratitude, a story of generosity inspired by Tom, please share it with us in the comments.