Stewardship 101

The 2020 Stewardship Campaign is off and running! Throughout the coming weeks, you will be hearing from members about different aspects of stewardship. Each week you will also receive a resource to use as a devotional to dive deeper into what it means to be good stewards outside of the church walls. Besides the materials that will be provided for adults, children and youth will also be sent some resources to help them and you as a family to learn more together!

What “Stewardship” is All About

Stewardship is about more than money. But it is about money. Your use of money and your other possessions are an important part of your discipleship as followers of Jesus. The word “steward” comes from the Anglo-Saxon term “sty warden,” the person who took care of the pig sty! The term has evolved to describe anyone who is the keeper of another person’s possessions. Steward describes your relationship with God the creator. It helps you to see that God has “created me and all that exists” (Luther’s Small Catechism, Apostles’ Creed, explanation of the First Article). And all that we are and all that we have, come from God as blessing. It is your responsibility to take care of and use wisely these blessings. They include your time, attention, physical health, energy, talents, possessions, attitudes, relationships, and money. That includes the sharing of your financial resources to support the ministry of the church.

Stewardship ministry has a long history in the life of the church. It has often been the place in the life of a congregation where the financial needs and realities of the organization are addressed. In many congregations this broad-based way of thinking has become focused only on the congregation’s budget. And so there can be a sense of not having enough to pay the bills. What this leads to is conversation about meeting the budget. Thus limited, these conversations use only fund-raising language and can lead you away from a healthy understanding of what stewardship ministry can be for you as disciples of Jesus.

When your use of language about stewardship is centered on the need to meet the budget of the congregation—the need to raise sufficient funds to cover the bills—you can lose sight of what it means to be good stewards. You might begin to think more about the total needed and “How much is my fair share?” You might find yourself wrestling with what you think you can afford to give in light of the rising costs of everything else in your life and how much you have left over. And for some people, decisions about giving can become based on whether or not they agree with the pastor, the congregation council or some other group or individual within the church. One way to start to reverse this trend: Separate fund-raising language from stewardship conversations. Think how stewardship colors all of life’s decision-making, how an “attitude of gratitude” might prosper in your congregation, or how congregation members can inspire each other with generosity.

Reflection:

• What are your blessings?
• How can you pass on those blessings?
• How can you have an attitude of gratitude in all things?
• What does it mean to you to be a good steward?

Throughout the coming weeks, you will receive more resources to study what it means to be a good steward. Kids resources are to come! To read more about stewardship, download the resource below. This is where today's devotional was adapted from: Make It Simple.

Don't forget to also download the resource for children! It is all about giving, saving, and spending. You have been provided the leader guide and participant guide for use. Thank you to the ELCA for sharing these resources!