In considering this season of stewardship I am reflecting on the similarities between giving blood, donating organs, and stewardship in the church. 

Many of us regularly donate blood. Some of us donate blood every 56 days, that is we have developed a plan of action and donate regularly. We donate because we know that we can spare some blood. We have been gifted with health and can contribute to the health of others. Sometimes donating blood is painful, but we are committed to doing it unless we are sick and our bodies cannot afford to donate blood. 

The donation of blood on a regular basis is equivalent to making a pledge to donate financially, weekly, monthly, or yearly to your local parish. Interestingly, in one sitting a person is able to donate almost one pint of blood which is approximately 10% of the blood in your body. The Old Testament command to tithe, which forms much of the basis of our stewardship of our treasure, was also a call to donate 10% of your income to God in support of the ministry. It is equivalent to signing up to donate online so that the commitment you made does not get neglected due to forgetfulness or fickleness.

There are some of us who are able to and who have gone above and beyond just the donating of blood and have donated an organ. A living person is able to donate one kidney, one lung, a part of the liver, a part of the pancreas, and a part of the intestine. These are donations we do not make on a regular basis. They are parts of our bodies which physically healthy individuals are able to donate, but unlike blood, they will not refresh themselves. We do not donate an organ haphazardly. We usually donate organs to those who we already have relationships with. We want to see an immediate impact for our gift, such as the health of a loved one. This type of donation might only happen once or twice in a lifetime, it is a major donation that involves much more than a needle in our arm. But we donate because we see that someone we love and care for has a specific need and we know we can spare our lung, etc in order that they can live a long and healthy life.

The donation of an organ by a living person is equivalent to making a special financial donation to the church, above and beyond your regular pledge. We might make such a donation because of a specific, pressing need in the church or to contribute to the building up of an endowment that can be saved for future uses. 

Many of us are registered to be organ donors in the event of our death. We recognize that once we have passed away that we no longer have use for the many organs in our body that could be donated to someone else. Unfortunately there are many organs that go undonated at the time of a person’s death because they never made the arrangements to be registered as an organ donor during their life. 

Registering to be an organ donor in the event of our death is equivalent to arranging with a lawyer or financial advisor to remember St. Clement’s in your will. Remembering St. Clement’s might be in the form of a one-time financial donation, an endowment/trust that you set up, or even the donation of a vehicle or home. All of these ideas and more would allow St. Clement’s to put to use what you no longer need to the glory of God.