Teaching and Addressing Stewardship Christ-the-King Church,
Willingboro May 2, 2009 with Canon Lee Powers Forming a Stewardship
Committee and Planning Events Slide 2 Ministry of all gods people
Each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christs
gift.... The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some
prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the
saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of
Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the
full stature of Christ.... Slide 3 Promoting bodily growth We must
no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every
wind of doctrine, by peoples trickery, by their craftiness in
deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up
in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the
whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which
it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the
bodys growth in building itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:7,11-16)
Slide 4 Mission of the Church Question: What is the mission of the
Church? Answer: The mission of the Church is to restore all people
to unity with God and each other in Christ. Question: Through whom
does the Church carry out its mission? Answer: The Church carries
out its mission through the ministry of all its members. Slide 5
Ministry of all the baptized Question: What is the ministry of the
laity? Answer: The ministry of lay persons is to represent Christ
and his Church; to bear witness to him wherever they may be; and,
according to the gifts given them, to carry on Christs work of
reconciliation in the world; and to take their place in the life,
worship, and governance of the Church. Slide 6 The duty of all
Christians Question: What is the duty of all Christians? Answer:
The duty of all Christians is to follow Christ; to come together
week by week for corporate worship; and to work pray and give for
the spread of the kingdom of God. Slide 7 Vision of a mission
People give to a vision, not a need! From Rick Warrens book:
Purpose Drive Church Experience tells us that it is fruitless to
call people to the practice of Christian stewardship until we have
first called them to surrender their lives to God in Christ.
(Practicing Year Round Stewardship, page 10) Slide 8 Forming a
Stewardship Committee When seeking to form a Stewardship Committee
in a congregation, it is important to find people who have
spiritual maturity and who are committed to Christ and the building
up of the body of Christ, the Church. Slide 9 How big should the
committee be? - More is better. More energy, more gifts, more
people learning by teaching. -Enough people to share in learning
anew, designing and doing, and teaching the new people for the
future. - Three year commitments allows people to work at all three
stages without burning out. Slide 10 Tasks of the Committee
-Teaching: from Gods word the basic principles of stewardship of
time, talent and treasure. -Communication: developing a format of
communicating the teaching to the whole congregation. - Organizing:
designing a stewardship program that is engaging, that challenges
people to be faithful, and reaches everyone. Slide 11 Task 1 -
Teaching Start with the Word of God. Freely use what I presented
this morning, and add to it from your own Bible study. There are
many good resources made available from the Office of Stewardship
of the Episcopal Church. Dont be afraid to look at resources from
other churches and Christian organizations. Slide 12 Task 2 -
Communication Developing a format to communicate the stewardship
message to the whole congregation is a challenge that calls for
real imagination. An Annual Letter from the Rector, while
informative, rarely motivates people to think deeply and review
their own commitment level. One means of communication can be the
use of a Parish Photo and Dreams Album. Slide 13 Parish Photo Album
To enhance our Stewardship Campaign in 1991, we decided to produce
a Parish Family Album of Photos and our Dreams. This helped people
have a fuller view of life at our parish, and to combine our dreams
and theirs. Slide 14 Sections and Instructions Slide 15 Community:
envisioned and lived Slide 16 Our life together Slide 17 Ministry:
here and there Slide 18 Dreams for our Future Rick Warren stated
that, People give to a vision, not to a need. Expressing your
dreams for the future of the parish, and inviting people to share
their dreams, enables them to form a vision. Slide 19 Dreams of the
heart We asked everyone who read through the photo albums to share
with us their dreams. Some were simple, some were personal. Hearing
from the people of the parish is very important! Slide 20 Parish
Finances The ability of the parish to meet its dreams for the
future depends upon the faithful stewardship of all its members. A
simple presentation of the current financial state of the parish
helps people see what can be accomplished by greater participation
in faithful stewardship. Slide 21 Meeting The Challenge Revenue
growing but not keeping pace: (000s) Rev.Exp.Deficit 1987$69$79$10
1988 $87$94$ 7 1989$101$108$ 7 1990 $107$118$11 1991 $114$134$20 We
presented a plan to eliminate the deficit: 1990 support as follows:
77 of 200 households Median giving a week: 42 single/retired $6 35
double income $12 Asked all below those levels to try and reach
that level, and those above to raise by at least 5%. If everyone
did, we would eliminate the deficit. Slide 22 Results of 1991
Campaign The report of our parish financial secretary showed that
we now had a 75% participation and a 30%+ increase in support for
the ministry of the parish! Estimate of giving rose from $68,000 to
$90,000. Enough to close the $20,000 deficit! Before, only 1/3
households returned a pledge. Capital Campaign began! Slide 23 Task
3 - Organizing The overall task of organizing deals with a plan for
designing a stewardship program that is engaging, that challenges
people to be faithful, and reaches everyone. Many approaches were
tried: Every Member Canvas, Mailings with brochures, Cottage
Meetings, Pony Express. Slide 24 Planning for the Year With a
Stewardship Committee in place, we began to plan for future years,
with the goal of having variety of programs while staying faithful
to the Word of God. The Pony Express program was adopted for the
format for the next few years, but we would improve and vary
communications, and try to contact the whole parish several times
each year. Slide 25 Year Round Communication Goals of communication
were as follows: 1.Develop a Phone Tree that would enable this
communication to serve as a basis for the Pony Express trails.
2.Keep all our contact info up to date. 3.Contact all members
periodically to ask about their prayer needs. 4.Welcome Back Sunday
in September. Slide 26 Parish Phone Tree Trail Boss 1 ___________
Captain ________Captain __________ Captain __________ Captain
________ Caller _________Caller ___________ Caller __________
Caller ________ Household HouseholdHouseholdHousehold Caller
_________Caller ___________ Caller __________ Caller ________
Household HouseholdHouseholdHousehold Household
HouseholdHouseholdHousehold Caller _________Caller ___________
Caller __________ Caller ________ Household
HouseholdHouseholdHousehold Caller _________Caller ___________
Caller __________ Caller ________ Household
HouseholdHouseholdHousehold Slide 27 Welcome Back Sunday The first
Sunday after Labor Day became known as Welcome Back Sunday. The
Stewardship Committee hosted a brunch between services, invited all
the ministry leaders to set up registration tables, let each leader
offer a two minute commercial and then the Stewardship Committee
chairperson told everyone about the format for this years campaign.
Slide 28 Organizing Challenge: Variety We developed several formats
for each Fall: 1993 Sowing the Seeds of the Future included a
booklet of members testimonies. 1995 Pony Express with video (you
can view video at)
http://newjersey.anglican.org/stewardship/indexa.html
http://newjersey.anglican.org/stewardship/indexa.html 1997 39
volunteers distributed bread and materials to all households. 1998
12 Cottage Meetings in homes. Plate and Pledge grew 50%+ from 1993
to 1998 while also giving over $200,000 for restoration! Slide 29
Sources for Resources Network kit ($149.99), Bruce Bugbee, Don
Cousins resource to discern peoples passion, spiritual gifts and
personal style for a good ministry fit. www.zondervan.com Pony
Express from Stewardship Resources Inc. 1-800-234-5844,
www.stewardshipresources.com Channing L. Bete scriptographic
booklets (get catalog) 1-800-628-7733 www.channing-bete.com Slide
30 Episcopal Church resources Resources from the Episcopal Church
Stewardship Office: www.episcopalchurch.org/stewardship.htm (get
catalog) Finding Hope in Hard Times; Seven Spiritual Practices: A
Faithful Stewards Guide (2009 can download or order) Planning Year
Round Stewardship Carson, Reed (1986) A Time for Vision: A
Stewardship Handbook for Vestries Bonner, Schadt 1989 What a Modern
Christian Thinks About Tithing Bp. Stough Tithing: A Habit to Mend
the Heart Bp. Aldan Hathaway Tithing: The Heart of the Matter Bp.
Francis C. Gray From Church Publishing at www.cpg.org Transforming
Stewardship by the Rev. Canon C. K. Robertson The Episcopal Network
for Stewardship http://tens.org (get catalog) Episcopal Church
Foundation www.EpiscopalFoundation.org
