Tens: The Episcopal Network for Stewardship

09/07/2026

TENS Celebrates workers whose life, labor, and love create industry, prosperity, and productivity for our society. We pray for justice for all who labor. ¡Sí, se puede!

Almighty God, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of other workers, and arouse our concern for those who are out of work; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

09/03/2026

Proper 18 — September 6
Matthew 18:15–20 — Stewardship of Community

Jesus’ teaching about conflict is not usually the first place we go looking for stewardship, but perhaps it should be. A congregation is something entrusted to our care. Relationships do not remain healthy by accident; they require honesty, courage, patience, forgiveness, and the willingness to remain in conversation when walking away would be easier.

At the beginning of a new program year, this text offers a useful reminder that stewardship is about more than what we give to the church—it is also about how we tend the community we have been given. The question for a congregation might be: What practices help us become a household where truth can be spoken, reconciliation can be sought, and people can remain in relationship even when things are difficult?

Preaching turn: We often ask what the church needs from us. Jesus asks us to consider what our relationships need from us.

09/01/2026

Year of Living Generously: September, A Month of Belonging

September is a month of returning. Congregations settle back into their regular rhythms, ministries restart, and many churches invite people to consider where they might serve in the year ahead. That makes this a wonderful moment to think about generosity not simply as filling needs, but as helping people discover where their gifts, interests, and lives connect with the life of the church.

This month, try these four practices for making participation feel less like recruitment and more like belonging.

Week 1: Turn the Ministry Fair into an Invitation

Ministry fairs can easily become a collection of tables announcing what the church needs: more ushers, more teachers, more coffee-hour hosts, more volunteers for outreach. Instead, begin with the person standing in front of you. Ask, “What brings you joy?” or “What gifts would you like to share?”

That small change moves the conversation from vacancy-filling to vocation. Stewardship is not primarily about finding people to do jobs; it is about helping people recognize that God has given them gifts that matter. When people serve from a place of joy, curiosity, or calling, ministry becomes an expression of generosity rather than another obligation.

08/31/2026

As we step into September, let's reflect on our shared stewardship of God's household. This month, we invite you to consider how we can care for our community and Creation. From nurturing relationships to advocating for justice, every action counts. Let's embrace the abundance of God's gifts and ensure a place for all in God's vineyard.

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Email from TENS Tending the Household of God | Now is the time to plan for 2027 capital campaigns!   Tending the Household of God Year of Living Generously: A Month of Belonging September lectionary S

08/29/2026

This year's annual campaign emphasizes a calm and mission-driven approach to generosity amidst the noise of current events. Download our materials and share them with your church community to foster a spirit of giving. Explore stewardship letters and ways to give resources to enhance your ministry. Together, we can unlock the generosity within our communities.

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Email from TENS Pastoral Responses to 2026 Stewardship Greetings! This year's annual campaign needs a different kind of energy - a calm, measured, mission-focused approach to annual giving that cuts t

08/27/2026

Teaching and Preaching Tip for Proper 17
Romans 12:9-21

Paul offers no abstract definition of Christian love. Instead, he gives us a series of concrete practices: hold fast to what is good, show honor, contribute to those in need, extend hospitality, rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Stewardship is woven through every instruction. It is the faithful offering of our attention, homes, resources, patience, compassion, and power for the sake of our neighbors.

The most difficult instruction may be the refusal to repay evil with evil. Paul calls the church to feed its enemies, bless its persecutors, and overcome evil with good—not through passivity, but through disciplined, courageous love. We may doubt whether such generosity can really change anything. Yet Christian stewardship asks us to trust that God can use what we offer—one meal, one welcome, one act of mercy, one refusal to retaliate—to loosen evil’s hold and make room for reconciliation.

08/25/2026

Week 4: Connect Every Gift to Ministry

Paul reminds us that we are one body, and that our gifts are given for the good of the whole. Choose one parish ministry and tell the full story of the gifts that make it possible—not only leadership and financial support, but hospitality, prayer, administration, teaching, encouragement, maintenance, transportation, and care. Help the congregation see that ministry is rarely the work of one gifted person; it is what happens when many gifts are offered together.

TENS Year of Living Generously series offers weekly tips and practices to adopt in your congregation. This month, in Romans 12:1–8, Paul offers a remarkably complete vision of stewardship. He begins not with money, but with the whole self: our bodies, minds, gifts, relationships, and place within the community. Stewardship is the practice of offering all of these to God, not as isolated individuals, but as members of one body whose gifts are meant to serve one another. As congregations begin preparing for the fall, August is a good time to take inventory of the tools God has already placed among us.

08/24/2026

TENS celebrates Stewards who follow Jesus' call to seek, serve, heal, feed, visit, and love.

Almighty and everlasting God, who gave to your apostle Bartholomew grace truly to believe and to preach your Word: Grant that your Church may love what he believed and preach what he taught; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

08/21/2026

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08/20/2026

Teaching and Preaching Tip on Proper 16
Matthew 16: 13-20

Jesus asks the disciples what others are saying about him, but then turns the question directly toward them: “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answers with courage and conviction, naming Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the living God. His confession becomes the foundation upon which Jesus promises to build. Stewardship begins with the same deeply personal question. Before we decide what we will give, share, risk, or serve, we must ask whom we believe we are following—and whether that belief has any claim upon the way we live.

Peter’s answer is bold, but his understanding is not yet complete. His faith will continue to grow through misunderstanding, failure, forgiveness, and renewed calling. The church is built not upon people who possess perfect certainty, but upon disciples willing to confess what they know and keep following as they learn. We need not wait until every doubt is settled before offering ourselves to God’s work. Faithful stewardship is the practice of building our lives upon the truth we have received, trusting that Christ will continue to deepen and reshape our answer.