The concept of stewardship has been preached from the earliest days in the Bible.  Families would offer to God a tithe or a tenth of all they produced. Exodus 23:19 says: “Bring the best of the first fruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.”   Thousands of years later, that is still our call:  to offer our best and all of our resources - time, talent and treasure - in thanksgiving and gratitude to God, who is both Creator and Provider.

In Biblical times, the steward was a person trusted to be responsible for managing all the property and household of an owner.  In the same way, we must acknowledge that God is truly the Owner of everything we are and have, and that all He requires of us is the faithful management of what is already His.

At Bay Presbyterian Church, we encourage our members to follow the Biblical mandate of the tithe or, at the very least, to commit a percentage of income to the work of the Lord through this church. 

And yet beyond the percentage gift that is committed to God’s work through BPC, remember the other 90% of your life.  It is also to be used for God’s purposes through your work, talents and time in Christian fellowship, worship, Bible study, and prayer.  Our stewardship of all these gifts from God needs to be developed regularly and consistently.