Stewardship—Is it linked to the business and budgeting of the church, or aligned with your ministry efforts?
Too often “stewardship” gets linked to the treasurer and finance part of our church operations. We tend to focus on the churches’ need to receive rather than the givers need to give.
I often get calls from church leadership asking me if I have any resources that will improve giving. I’ve even heard pastors claim to never talk about money for fear of offending someone or making them feel uncomfortable. To be honest, this is a case where pastors do not feel comfortable presenting stewardship from a biblical context. Jesus addresses money in 11 of His 39 recorded parables—that is nearly 30% of the time. If Jesus can address this, maybe we should too.
Have you thought you wanted to present a more detailed and focused effort on stewardship within your congregation? You might find that LCEF’s “Consecrated Stewards” just might help you and your church leadership with an opportunity to effectively put together a biblically based stewardship program from a Lutheran perspective.
Consecrated Stewards:
- Focuses on Bible-based, grace-inspired management of God’s gifts, not on church budget shortfalls
- Puts ministry before money
- Asks Christian stewards to take a step forward in faith in light of God’s grace
- Raises people to a new level of spiritual commitment and annual giving as they steward all of God’s gifts
Bethany Lutheran in Alexandria, VA just finished a Consecrated Stewards program this past Reformation Sunday on October 27th. They provided wonderful feedback on how well and effective this training was for them.
Concordia Lutheran in Hagerstown, MD is gearing up for their Consecrated Stewards program during February and March of 2025.
If this is something you’d like to learn more about click HERE and scroll down to “Consecrated Stewards. You can also learn about another longer program Called “StewardPath.”
If you have any questions or would like to have a discussion on other stewardship resources, please contact Kirk Hymes at khymes@se.lcms.org or Kirk.Hymes@ lcef.org.