About the second Sunday in November each year, after mailing out a flood of brochures, putting up posters, twisting arms of the faithful to make visits, and designing a banner, there comes from this pulpit what I like to call, "The Sermon on the Amount." Members sit in the pews and squirm on their billfolds, hang onto their checkbooks and purses, fill out a pledge card reluctantly, and sing the hymn: "Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold."

For biblical justification of this once-a-year holy harassment, we preachers drag out the pious word from scripture called "stewardship." It’s called Stewardship Sunday, and is filled with pressure, discomfort, complaint, and pleas for loyalty to good old St. Johns Lutheran.* (*The Author's parish.)

Because of that once-a-year phenom…