One of the great hymns of the church is "Great is Thy Faithfulness." Remember it? I especially like the last verse, which goes, "Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide. Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, Blessings all mine with ten thousand beside." And that, Sisters and Brothers, on a Sunday morning can get you in the mood for some worthwhile praying. It echoes a theme of a great spiritual, "What a Mighty God We Serve," which includes, "Woke me up this morning, started me on my way." Both of them bear witness to a good God, a trustworthy God, a God who can be counted on to be there for us in times of trouble and always wants to provide us with what is best for us. What a mighty God, indeed!

OK then. God is all those great and wonderful things. God is faithful and we can "join with all nature in manifold witness" to that good news. We don't need to search for other gods and we don't need to worry about whether ours is a God who can be counted on when the chips are down. Amen and hallelujah. If we can all then dismiss from our concern the issue of God's trustworthiness, might we turn some attention elsewhere? What about us? Are we a trustworthy people? Can God count on us to do our part? In a world in need of hearing the Good News, are we doing our part?

Some people have yet to hear about Jesus, or to experience Christian mercy and kindness. Are we speaking the words, doing the deeds, or sharing the money needed to get it done? We see hunger, homelessness and loneliness in every town and city in North America. Are we doing anything about that? Our church, locally, regionally and generally, struggles to perform ministries that suffer for lack of funding. How much are we giving of ourselves to make them successful? Let me get to the point: how much money are we giving?

Here's a truth that ought to break our hearts, and make God wonder about our trustworthiness: giving to ALL church causes by members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) keeps hovering at about 2.5 percent of our incomes. That adds up to one fourth of a tithe and that puts us three fourths away from the bare minimum of what God asks. This obviously presents a financial problem but it reflects a much deeper spiritual crisis. It's a thorough demonstration of faithlessness in action.

Because this is so clearly a spiritual failure on our part, we look for excuses. We ask ourselves, "Now how much does my church need to do that I think it should?" "How much is my fair share?" "What are they going to do with that money?" On and on the excuses can go. We can even sooth our guilt with a list of the good works we do in lieu of sacrificial giving. We can make a list of everything our parents or grandparents gave. We can tote up the score of other "charitable giving" and, given time, we'll include our country club dues and the value of the food we brought to the last pot luck dinner.

Brothers and sisters, this church is in need of transformation all over the place but the beginning place for that includes some soul searching on issues of Christian stewardship. This issue of the Home Mission Advocate is dedicated to the subject of stewardship and I hope you read it, share it, and put it to work in your various areas of church participation. I long for us all to have a moment when our Lord might look at each of us and say "Great is her/his faithfulness."

Glad to be with you in Christian mission,

—The Rev. Arnold C. Nelson Jr., president of Disciples Home Missions, is a native of Clarksville, Tenn., and is a member of Southport Christian Church, Indianapolis.