445. Stewardship is Worship
For those who don’t know, our lease with Richland was up in September, and we are in the middle of new lease negotiations. With increased rent (expected since our lease has stayed the same over the last few years), we have also been asking for more classrooms to use. The school has been reluctant due to maintenance concerns, but they wanted to monitor our use of the building for a few months before deciding.
While this was underway, the school notified us that they had noticed us misusing the building, mainly the kitchen. It is unfortunate that this happened during a critical phase of the lease talk. But it is understandable, as food handling and fridge access are big issues for schools due to allergies and other health concerns. So, upon discussing with the leadership team and the facility team leader, we have decided to limit Kitchen access and food consumption in the classrooms.
We knew the kitchen was off-limits, but we overlooked our members using the counter. But the school has noticed some things left on the counter, and they can see how we use it using the security camera. To prevent any misunderstandings in the future, we advise all members not to access the kitchen.
Thankfully, the school recognizes that we have been good tenants, except for a few incidents, including the most recent one. Trust is difficult to earn, but easy to lose. Once it is lost, it takes a long time to rebuild. We want to maintain and protect the trust we have built over the last 9 years, so we are firmly implementing these measures in place. We will take the school’s boundaries seriously, without complaints. Please handle any school-owned property carefully, especially when moving it.
God has given us this building to “steward”. Whether we own a building or not, we must always remain a steward. There will never be a time when we can do whatever we want to do with what we have. If we owned the building, the consequences would’ve been different, but that doesn’t change the fact that we are to manage what is given to us with gratitude and faithfulness. Jesus said, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much…” (Luke 16:10)
Stewardship is worship. That is why, how we steward our personal finances is also worship. Let’s worship not only “in” this facility but “with” this facility, as we faithfully steward it to the honour of God. Getting continual recognition from the school that we’ve been a good tenant is important for us, not just for our sake (having a place to stay), but for God’s sake, as they know we are a church.
