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Stewardship Education and Development Program
Synopsis
Introduction:
The Stewardship Program outlined in Gordon's handbook is perhaps,
for some of us, a new way of looking at stewardship. It sees
stewardship as something other than simply a fundraising campaign
or event, and grounds itself in a solid theological base.
Stewardship begins with the conviction that everything
in the universe belongs to God our Creator. Whatever we "have",
we hold in trust for God as stewards; this includes our TIME,
our TALENT, and our TREASURE. A large component of our Christian
discipleship is learning how to "spend" our lives
to the glory of God and for the healing of God's beloved world.
From this point of view, stewardship is about more than raising
money for the parish budget (though that is certainly an important
"side-benefit"!) Rather, the key goal in the Stewardship
Program is to educate and encourage the faithful to make thanks-giving
a regular part of their spiritual lives - giving of time,
giving of gifts and skills, giving of monetary resources.
To
this end, the Stewardship Program seeks to provide a year-round
framework of education, visioning, and encouragement for the
spiritual practice of giving, rather than a more limited "stewardship
campaign" (which, as the phrase suggests, resembles a
frantic but short-term battle fought primarily to part the
faithful from their cash).
Timeline:
On a practical level, the Stewardship Program contains a number
of various elements which need to be incorporated for an effective
program. It may be helpful to see these elements laid out
on a loose timeline to get a better sense of the flow of the
Program (and remember, this cycle of events would be used
year after year, not just once and for all).
| Jan-Feb
|
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Stewardship Committee begins the planning process
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| Mar-Apr |
-Visioning
/ Idea Gathering from parish
-
at the end of this period, a Parish Planning Conference
is held involving all the leaders (from all groups and
committees) to evaluate the ideas gathered from the
parish, prioritize, and develop a "vision blueprint"
which includes concrete, achievable goals to work toward.
This blueprint is then presented to the parish so that
everyone is on board with what is going on.
-
at the Planning Conference, the blueprint is also converted
into a "dollar goal
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| May-Aug |
-
slower time, details can be attended to |
| Sept-Oct |
-
contact persons (previously called "canvassers")
are recruited
-
planning and invitation process undertaken for "The
Event" (which is a full parish lunch or dinner,
with entertainment, and a chance for the Stewardship
Committee to present more info about the parish's "vision
blueprint", dollar goal, the plan for "Commitment
Sunday", and stewardship in general)
-
series of letters from Wardens, Stewardship Chair, and
Dean sent out to parish
|
| Oct-Nov |
-
"The Event"
-
"Commitment Sunday" (involves a planned mechanism
by which as many individuals or families as possible
can make their commitment or "pledge" for
the upcoming year)
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| Nov-Dec |
-
final Stewardship Committee meeting fo the year (review,
evaluation, unfinished business, etc.) |
| Jan-Feb |
-
back to the beginning, over and over, every year .... |
Note
carefully that stewardship information is going out to the
parish all year, every year (there is a subcommittee set up
to plan and execute this type of ongoing education). This
"information process" includes, but is certainly
not limited to: bulletin board displays, videos, posters,
tours, speakers, sermons, "minutes-for-mission",
bulletin blurbs, newsletter articles, etc. These things are
not advertisements for a "campaign", but rather
information which will let people know what their church is
doing (at parish, diocesan, national, and world levels). They
also provide information on the theology and spirituality
of stewardship in general.
Another
issue to note is that the Program places a lot of emphasis
on "proportional giving" as a way for parishioners
to determine pledge amounts (sometimes called "pledging
based on income"). Much more information on the "why's"
and the "how's" of this is included in the handbook.
Next
Steps: Over the next several months, I will attempt to
plan and execute 3 or 4 small stewardship-related items. Some
ideas for these include:
-
a stewardship theme in a sermon
- a
bulletin blurb
- a
"ministry fair"
- a
pamphlet on stewardship theology
- any
other ideas?
The
purpose of these items is simply to help the parish begin
thinking about the issue of stewardship in general, not to
"push for funds". This will help us feel the waters
to see if we are ready to move toward a fully developed Stewardship
Program.
I will also be reporting to Vestry on a regular basis, so
I would encourage you all to think carefully about the following
questions:
- Is
this the type of Stewardship Program we want at St. John's?
If not, what do we want to do?
- How
would this type of program "interface" with fundraising
efforts already underway (eg. Fowl Supper, Time & Talent
auction, garage sales, specific appeals, etc.)?
- Who
wants to be on the Committee? Who has a burning desire to
learn more about stewardship, try out some fresh ideas,
take a few risks, and launch into the Program? (Ideally,
I should not be the Chair of this Committee. I am ready
and willing to take on some role and offer my support, but
it would be excellent if someone from Vestry could Chair
the Committee.)
If
anyone wants to see the Program handbook, we can certainly
arrange to have a copy made. And if you have any specific
questions, feel free to ask me and I will do my best to find
answers.
Peace!
Sean
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