What is Stewardship?

Working Definition of Christian Stewardship
Christian stewardship is grateful and responsible use of God's gifts in the light of God's purpose as revealed in Jesus Christ. Christian stewards, empowered by the Holy Spirit, commit themselves to conscious, purposeful decisions.
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Stewardship and Philanthropy:
While we often talk about stewardship and philanthropy together when we talk about funding mission, they are different concepts.
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The Three Faces Of Stewardship
Ordinary Stewardship, Extraordinary Stewardship and Legacy Stewardship; the Three Faces of Stewardship.
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Stewardship is lived out in:
living and telling the Good News;
haring God in seeking justice, peace, and the integrity of creation in an interdependent universe;
wisely employing God-given human resources, abilities, and relationships;
sharing the material resources we hold and giving them in service, justice, and compassion;
providing for future generations, sharing in the life, worship, and responsible stewardship of the Church and of its mission
Both for the individual and for the community, stewardship is a joyful act for the sake of God's world.
This definition comes from the Standing Rules of the Ecumenical Stewardship Center. The Episcopal Church is a founding member of this group and remains active in its continuing work. You can find out more about ESC at their website, www.stewardshipresources.org.

Stewardship has also been defined as:
What I do, with all that I have, after I say, "I believe."
and
Using the gifts God has given us, to do the work God is calling us to do.

Stewardship and Philanthropy:
The Christian Strategy with Regard to Funding Mission

by Terry Parsons

While we often talk about stewardship and philanthropy together when we talk about funding mission, they are different concepts.

Philanthropy
This approach relies upon the presentation of a "case" which outlines the needs being experienced by persons other than either the prospective donor or the solicitor. The solicitor presents the needs of the "other' and the ways in which they may be met or alleviated through the generosity of the donor. As the name implies, the appeal is to our love of humanity and desire to do good.

Key Elements
Primary strategy is focused on persuading a prospective donor to become involved in the mission of the organization doing the asking. The mission is the organization's. The money is the donor's. The assumption is that as a donor becomes more involved with the organization, the amount of their donations will increase. Organizations, therefore, look for opportunities to strengthen these relationships.
The relationship between solicitor and donor is very important. In deciding who should ask whom for a contribution, a key assumption is that it is important for peers to ask peers. In many communities, a "you support my cause and I'll support yours" quid pro quo is taken for granted.
Recognition Programs - These may take many forms, including: naming of buildings, rooms, positions (university teaching chairs); listing in publications and other donor lists; and a variety of physical acknowledgements such as plaques on furniture, art, trees, etc.

Stewardship
Stewardship teaches that all that we have and all that we are is a gift from God. We are, therefore, stewards of God's gifts during our lifetime. Discerning and carrying out God's purpose is the primary purpose of our lives. The gifts we have been given, time, talent, and money, are to be used for that purpose. The primary role of the church is to guide individuals in discernment of the mission for their lives and use of their resources in accomplishing it.

Key Elements
The primary objective of the organization (church) is to bring people into a closer relationship with God. Strengthening relationships with individuals is an important part of this but the goal is always to create an environment in which the relationship with God is strengthened.

The key strategy is to encourage individuals to discern the gifts God has given them and the work God is calling them to do. God is the source of the mission and the money. Both are gifts over which the giver exercises faithful stewardship.
Giving is taught as a significant spiritual practice. The Church encourages giving by providing a variety of opportunities to give. Giving is also seen as a joyful response to God's generosity to us.
Recognition is seen as a means of witness. The goal of recognition programs is to provide givers with an opportunity to express their faith and encourage others.

From The Alleluia Fund, A Guide for Dioceses and Congregations, published by the Office of Stewardship, Episcopal Church Center, 2002
The Three Faces Of Stewardship

In gathering money for ministry there are several programs used to generate resources. These tend to happen developmentally and in sequence. They include:
Х events/products/and services
Х annual drives/offerings
Х capital campaigns
Х planned giving/endowment building
Х These programs tend to happen in an organization in the order listed above.
In the stewardship language of the church, we talk about these activities in the context of three faces (or aspects) of stewardship. These are:

Ordinary Stewardship
Extraordinary Stewardship
Legacy Stewardship

Ordinary Stewardship is the regular practice of returning to God a portion of all that God has given us. It involves teaching ourselves how to create a life built upon the notion that all that we have is a gift from God. This includes teaching the holy habits of keeping Sabbath and tithing and the concept that giving regularly of our time, talent, and money to Godбжs work on this earth is as much a spiritual practice as prayer and worship.

Extraordinary Stewardship involves the special occasions that arise in the life of Christian communities that call us to give beyond our ordinary habit. They involve increased risk and encourage us to experiment with sacrificial giving in order to help the community realize an especially important goal. The best example of extraordinary stewardship is the capital campaign.

Legacy Stewardship is the way in which we address the matter of disposing of the accumulations of our lifetime. Who will use your бзstuffби when you no longer need it? It is the opportunity to leave a planned gift that constitutes both a legacy to generations yet unborn and a final witness to those whom we hold most dear.

From The Alleluia Fund, A Guide for Dioceses and Congregations, published by the Office of Stewardship, Episcopal Church Center, 2002
Stewardship Chair

So You're the New Stewardship Chair!

Financial Commitment Programs That Work
(5/1/2003) Programs, Methods, and "best kept secrets" of Financial Commitment Programs.
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Characteristics of an Excellent Stewardship Program
Thirteen Points in an excellent stewardship program.
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Getting Started
If excellence is your goal, where can you start? I suggest you begin by scheduling two meetings, one for review, the other for planning.
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Building A Committee
(4/1/2003) If you have heeded the plea preached by stewardship conference leaders to Уdevelop a year round stewardship program,Ф the odds are that you are feeling a bit guilty that the year is marching on and you have done little so far. Where do you start? Here is one possibility.
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Financial Commitment Programs That Work
May 2003

This month we look at financial commitment programs. It is very helpful to select the one you plan to use four to six months before you plan to use it. This lessens the anxiety level for the stewardship committee and lets you plan formation activities that support this work in the months leading up to it. It gives you time to be creative, well-organized, and even have fun doing it. The following outline provides some basic essentials to help you choose.
Goals to be Achieved by a Commitment Program

Х Provide a conversion opportunity. This will most likely involve a confrontation with or comparison of the messages of the culture versus the invitations from the Kingdom of God. This is the most important goal.

Х Provide a "round trip" for the commitment device. In other words, deliver a commitment device (pledge card) to members of the congregation and get it back to church leadership.

Х Provide an estimate of income that enables church leadership to plan activities for the coming year.

Methods that Work Well

Х Every Member Canvass - Canvassers call upon prospective givers/pledgers, talk about the mission and work of the congregation, its role in the lives of those being visited, the canvasserТs own witness, and invite a financial commitment. Twenty years ago this was the most effective method. Today it is less so, but still a powerful strategy. Training for canvassers required.

Х Stewardship Banquet, Festive Meal, Deuteronomy Feast -
Whatever you call it, it is a meal for the congregation complete with special activities for the children, an engaging speaker, time for witness to the value of the mission and ministry of the congregation in the lives of members and the community, and an invitation to give as God is calling us to give. Training for table hosts required.

Х Cottage Meetings - These small group meetings in membersбж homes provide opportunities for conversations about the work God is calling the congregation to do. They are an excellent idea for congregations engaged in vision/mission review and future planning. They can be disastrous for congregations experiencing conflict. Training for hosts and discussion leaders required.

Х Personal Notes - Think of it as an every member canvass on personal stationery. These are personal notes, written by members of the congregation to other members, not to be confused with the letter composed by the rector or senior warden mail merged through the computer (or, even worse, copied on the copier) and sent to everyone. Letter writers tell why they give and ask others to respond to their own call from God. Training for letter writers is critical.

Best Kept Secret to Commitment Program Success - Worker Training Includes

Х Opportunity to Engage the Gospel - a specific type of Bible study

Х Opportunity for workers to examine their own reasons for giving to God

Х Opportunity to reflect on what it is that God would have them do

Х A challenge to do what it is God would have them do

Х Opportunity to make their commitment first
Other Secrets to Success

Х Design commitment programs that further the vision, mission, and plan for your congregation.

Х Use a different commitment program every year.

Х Teach something new every year.

Х Write a new stewardship prayer EVERY YEAR.

Х The best materials are those that your congregation invents for itself. This includes the commitment device (pledge card).

Х When recruiting a committee, recruit skills, not just people you think will say "yes."

Year Round Stewardship

Significant Questions We Want Everyone (adults, youth & children) to Be Able to Answer:

Х What does it mean to be a steward?

Х Of what are we stewards?
What is the role of money in my life, as a member of the body of Christ?
Key Concepts We Want Everyone to Know

Х God loves us and wants us to have all that we need to live a joyful and productive life.

Х All that we are and all that we have are gifts from God.

Х Regularly giving of our time, abilities, energy, and money is a spiritual practice.

Х Tithing is an important spiritual practice. It helps establish a healthy regard for money. It helps us to live the life God hopes we will have.
Key Truths

Х Persons in the United States possess considerably more wealth than the majority of the people in the world.

Х We make decisions to use this wealth generously for good or selfishly for our own indulgence.

Х Jesus has a lot to say about our use of money.

Practical Suggestions

Х Write a vision statement for the stewardship committee. Then set goals to be accomplished over a three-year period. The goals should answer the question, "How do we plan to teach key concepts and key truths? How do we plan to hold up the key questions?" Less than one-third of the goals should involve the financial commitment program. Do not keep either the vision or the goals secret. Ask for vestry/bishop's committee approval of the goals and plan and then let the congregation know.

Х Review your three-year plan annually. Evaluate the previous year and revise the plan in the light of new information or circumstances.

Х Use what you have. Look for opportunities to incorporate the themes and truths above in existing activities. Occasional adult forums or lenten studies are only two obvious possibilities.

Х Look for real needs that are opportunities for lively stewardship discussions. Financial planning, what makes a good will, current events, and how to talk to children about money are just a few topics that come to mind, along with what is the best use of our building and property.

Х Incorporate a discussion of stewardship into confirmation class and in preparation for baptism.

Х Include Christian education volunteers in your annual stewardship program.

Alleluia Fund

The Alleluia Fund - Build My Church is a process by which a diocese can focus on its mission and generate the start up funds required to accomplish it. Its focus is the cornerstone unit of the Episcopal Church, the diocese. The Alleluia Fund-Build my Church is an annual diocesan offering which takes place during the Easter season. It has the capacity to generate energy, enthusiasm, and venture capital for the work of the diocese.

If you would like a spiral bound, color copy of the Alleluia Fund, A Guide for Dioceses and Congregation, please contact us at stewardship@episcopalchurch.org.

Will Our Children Be Stewards?

The occasion was a vestry meeting to write a stewardship statement. The group was completing a discussion of early memories of money in which the final portion, that devoted to early memories of money as an offering, had been particularly lively and I couldnТt help commenting. УYou seem to have really enjoyed talking about these memories of giving offerings as children. Tell me, what do the children in this congregation now do about offering?Ф There was a sudden silence which became filled with embarrassment as it continued. Finally, one quiet voice responded with a mixture of realization and regret, УNothing, I guess. I really hadnТt thought about it until now.Ф
As we talked, members of that vestry realized that in their congregation there was no Sunday School offering collected. Children left the worship service as soon as the gospel had been read and returned in time to follow the presentation of the offering, the bread and the wine down the aisle. There was literally no opportunity for them to participate in any offering at all!
The good news is that that situation changed for those children on the very next Sunday. The vestry member who also served as the primary childrenТs Sunday School teacher invited her students to talk about offering and create their own offering box in which to begin placing their gifts. Now, that box is placed on top of the worship offering and presented at the altar each Sunday by one of the children. The priest leaves the offering on the altar until the conclusion of the Eucharist and the children see their box sitting there when they come to the altar rail. The children have also selected outreach projects funded by Уthe childrenТs offering.Ф
УWhat are we teaching our children about stewardship?Ф is becoming a critical question for our church. The fact is that we are teaching them very little. The baby boomers whose parents passed out nickels, dimes, and quarters for childish hands to place in offering places are not passing that instruction along.
Why does it matter? Listen to a few stewardship witness talks. УMy parents taught me to titheФ is a common beginning. How many of our children could say that? If we are not careful, we will soon have a generation of gospel consumers who have not been formed to contribute something of their own substance to the proclamation of that gospel to the world.
In June, 1997, I led a workshop entitled УYouТre Never Too Young (to be a steward)Ф for the Chaos to Creativity Christian Education Conference presented by Christ Church Cathedral in Indianapolis. During that workshop we identified some of the specific lessons we want our children to learn about stewardship. Though this list is still a work in progress, here is how it stands to date:
Х Stewardship is using the gifts God has given us to do the work God has given us to do.
Х Our giving is a thankful response to all that God has given us. Our lives and the manner in which we use our resources should reflect our belief that УAll things come of Thee, oh God.Ф
Х Part of the work God is calling each of us to do is to support the life and work of our congregation. Many of our congregations involve children in giving projects which neglect or even subvert this important lesson. Bringing soap and toothbrushes for children in Afghanistan, collecting money to buy animals for third world families through the Heifer Project and similar projects are excellent learning opportunities but they somehow leave the feeling that the day to day support of the congregation is boring and can be left to someone else.
Х God calls us to give of our substance, not a portion of the leftovers. Our gifts to God come first, before we spend on ourselves.
You will note that the lessons for children are identical to the lessons we try to teach adults. The technology is similar. Here are a few practical suggestions for making sure the younger members of the congregation are incorporated into the stewardship program.
Including Our Children
1. Make sure there is an opportunity for children to give an offering each week. It sounds obvious but an astonishing number of congregations, like the one mentioned in this article, have never thought about this. The childrenТs offering can come during Sunday School, childrenТs church, or the morning worship but it should be an event, part of the liturgy.
2. Give offering envelopes to every child who wants them. There are wonderful, colorful, inexpensive offering envelopes available from several denominational bookstores and publishers. Do not be dismayed by the uses children will find for these envelopes. I will never forget the morning we had to find an extra envelope for a child who had found it a convenient place to put the tooth which had come out during Sunday School. Yes, it is a good idea to tell parents what you are doing and give them veto power, though I have never known a parent to refuse or complain.
3. Honor every gift. Record childrenТs offerings and give them regular statements along with adults regardless of the amount they contribute. If the cost of keeping the records and generating the statements exceeds the amount of the contribution, so what? This is an investment in formation and is well worth the cost.
4. Teach parents how to teach their children. An adult forum on early memories of money will be valuable to the adults. End it with the question УWhat memories do you want your children to have?Ф and it will be valuable to their children. Anyone interested in a Уparents as stewardsФ training session, please call for a copy of the outline we have developed in the Office of Stewardship.
5. Incorporate a discussion of stewardship into confirmation class. One priest I know includes it in preparation for baptism which is an even better idea.
6. Include Christian Education volunteers in planning for your annual stewardship program. They are a valuable ally and may bring some fresh ideas along with them. Encourage them to look for stewardship teaching opportunities in whatever curriculum your church is using. There are a number of resources available but I think you will find that you do not need special УstuffФ to teach this.
7. Last, but most important, cherish the children. They are one of the best gifts God has given us.

йCopyright Terry Parsons. Used here with permission. Permission for copy for church educational use. Please include this notice in all copies.

Recent Publications

Resources

Living With Stewardship,

More Blessed to Give,

Talking about God and Money,

Contact Us

Terry Parsons
Stewardship Officer
Congregational Development
Episcopal Church
815 Second Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10017
(800) 334-7626 ext. 6284
E-mail: stewardship@episcopalchurch.org

Books about children and money for adult reading

How to Make Money Make Sense for Children,

Growing Up Generous, Engaging Youth in Giving and Serving,

Books to read with children

The Table Where Rich People Sit,
A girl discovers that her improverished family is rich in things that matter in life, especially being outdoors and experiencing nature.

The Berenstain Bears' Dollars and Sense,
Mama and Papa try to teach Brother and Sister the value money and how to manage their allowance.

The Berenstain Bears' Trouble with Money,
Brother and Sister Bear learn some important lessons about earning and spending money.

Arthur's Pet Business,
Arthur's determination to prove he is responsible enough the have a puppy brings him a menagerie of animals to care for.

The Give-Away,
The animals gather and offer to give themselves in order to revive a declining vitality of spirit in the humans.

Money Sense for Kids,
Explains the nature of money, the different ways in which it can be represented and how it can be saved or invested, discussing mutual funds, the stock market, banks and inflation. Includes games and activities.

Growing Money: A Complete Investing Guide for Kids,
Explains different types of investing - savings accounts, bonds, stocks, and mutual funds - and provides information to help make decisions on each kind of investment.

Just a Piggy Bank,
Little Critter learns about earning, spending and saving.

http://www.ecusa.anglican.org/stewardship_2218_ENG_HTM.htm?menu=menu23688

Stewardship

Underlined items are hot links

A Manual For Stewardship Development Programs (Tens)

...is designed to strengthen your church's stewardship development program by guiding you through a year-long process: from teaching your congregation the fundamentals of Christian stewardship to hosting successful, creative commitment events.

Filled with useful advice and rooted in Bible study, this manual is a must-have for anyone involved in congregational stewardship programs.

Book Title: Increasing the Stewardship and Giving in Your Congregation
Author: The Rev. Kevin Martin
ISBN: 2000
Price: $7.50
Publisher: The Episcopal Network for Evangelism
Publication Date: 1/1/1999

A hands-on methodology for stewardship leaders in the local congregation.

Published by The Episcopal Network for Evangelism, this book describes a hands-on methodology for stewardship leaders in the local congregation. Built on sound theory and full of practical examples, this work will help you reach more people and begin to build them into great stewards.

Click here to e-mail your order

Book Title: The Evergreen Program, A Stewardship Plan for Episcopal Congregations
Author: The Rev. David H. Roseberry, The Rev. Kevin Martin
ISBN: 100
Price: $99.00 NEW MARKED DOWN PRICE $49.50
Publisher: Vital Church Ministries
Publication Date: 12/1/1999

A step-by-step stewardship plan that has increased pledges by up to 40%.

Most churches have an ongoing challenge: to present the issues of stewardship and giving to the members of the congregation in a compelling and creative way. Learn how to implement this proven program in your church. The Evergreen Program will take the reader through a detailed step-by-step program of education and communication that really works. Some congregations have reported pledge increases of up to 40%!

Click here to e-mail your order

Bibliography of Resources for Stewardship Formation

Links to Stewardship Resources