Transition Year Conversation -
April 2007 ...
Stewardship
I serve
the three synods of Texas and Louisiana as an ELCA deployed stewardship
specialist and I’ve had some amazing experiences with congregations in the past
19 months. I have been asked to write one of the “cover letters” for the
Transition Conversation for this month, so let me start by saying that I use a
PowerPoint presentation in most of those settings which begins by simply sharing
the word “Stewardship” on the first slide, then asking everyone to share the
very first image that comes to their mind when they see that word on the screen.
The overwhelming response is “Money.” Sometimes the response is broader than
that, but the dominant response is “Money.” Then, I ask them to be honest with
the next question: “Is that image energizing for you or draining?” To date not
once have I been given the response “energizing.” At the very least, isn’t that
interesting?
If the dominant image for stewardship IS “money” then it follows that
stewardship becomes a fund raising venture for congregations. Predominantly,
that’s what I experience as I work with leaders and pastors of congregations,
and I wonder if that is true for you and your congregation as you read this
cover letter. Take a moment and discuss that with each other.
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Stewardship
The Bible speaks of stewardship more than
almost any other topic—but very little about money. Does “stewardship” mean
“money” to your congregation?
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Click Here to go to the responses to Question 8
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Is your congregation anxious about “money?” Is your
congregation typically in the “red,” struggling to “pay the bills?” Are you a
congregation that has decided in the recent past to lower the level of mission
support for the Synod and ELCA? Is your congregation at a tithing level (10%)
when it comes to ELCA mission support? Are you, personally and as a leader in
your congregation, a tither or beyond? A statistic to ponder: The average giving
per household in the ELCA is 1.7%.
Those are just a few questions/stats to talk about when it comes to money.
Probably MORE than enough, right? Well, what’s interesting to me is that I often
hear that “We shouldn’t talk about money in the church.” But the fact is, we DO
talk about money…we talk about it quite often! But more often than not we talk
about it in the context of its scarcity, not its abundance. And it drains us.
Maybe I’m strange, but I believe we are hungry to talk about money…openly and
honestly. And I have found that when we do, some wonderful insights appear that
help us to break through those traditional walls that hold us back from growing
in faith and growing the mission of the Church. I have witnessed congregations
that have moved from scarcity thinking to abundance thinking and seen the
actions to reflect that significant movement.
In the next six years, as a Synod, how would you envision us moving in that
direction? What might be your congregation’s part in that movement?
Pastor John Boldt
The question for our conversation is:
How
do we, as a synod, move from a “scarcity” model of stewardship to an
“abundance” model of stewardship?
Please send your comments and summary conclusions to:
transition@gulfcoastsynod.org.
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