As your new Stewardship & Gifts Officer for Hamilton
& London Conferences, the statement to the right under my picture nicely sums up what I see as my main purpose in this new
ministry. Helping congregations to model
healthy discipleship in order to make healthy disciples and healthy
congregations.
It’s quite simple, actually.
When good stewardship practices, including stewardship of finances
and other possessions, are a normal part of what the leadership of your
congregation teaches and models, then the rest of your congregation will also
grow to do the same.
It’s about intentionality.
This Blog is one way that I intend to be intentional about helping
you and your congregation grow in your stewardship and grow in your faith. Each month (so check back. Or better yet,
subscribe) I will be posting a Stewardship sermon here. These sermons have been preached before, so
they work. PLEASE! Use them as they are, or tear them apart and rewrite them to fit your context. I'll also include a key scripture reference and the lectionary date for that scripture. But don't be bound by that. I'm not! Use them when they best suit.
Now that’s not to say that if you preach them you will solve
your congregation’s stewardship challenges, but as I said before, the more the
leadership of your congregation teaches and models good stewardship, then the rest
of your congregation will also grow to do the same. These sermons can help you with the teaching
part. The modelling stewardship part is
up to you.
To that end though, here’s an idea to start with…
It’s time to have “the talk”!
Tell me, other than “How much will it cost to run the church
this year?” or “Will we make the budget?” when was the last time the members of
your church’s Board or Council had a good honest discussion about why they
personally give to support the mission of your church?
That kind of conversation may seem intimidating at first,
but experience has found that when the leadership of the church can have “the
talk,” it turns out to be quite energizing.
Suddenly, instead of only talking about numbers and finances
and a spirit of scarcity, people are talking about what matters to them. They are talking about what God is doing in
their lives through the church and how that experience has made a difference to
them. They are talking about the importance
of their faith. And they are hearing the
same from their friends and fellow disciples.
Cool!!
Of course, if you’re the Minister or the Chairperson or the Treasurer,
or whomever gets to lead “the talk,” then you'd better be ready to go first!
So how about it? Why
not start out the fall season of beginnings by investing some time at your church’s
first Council or Board meeting to talk about why you each give? By building intentional stewardship time into
each meeting of the leadership of your church you model healthy discipleship. Which in turn helps to build healthy
disciples.
Which is really what’s it’s all about!
Think about it!
