Stewardship Plan
Developing an Annual Stewardship Plan
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Perhaps you’ve heard about the policeman that pulled over a carload of women. The policeman walked up to the car and politely said, “Ma’am, this is a 65MPH highway—why are you going so slow?“
She quickly responded, “Sir, I saw a sign that said 22, not 65!”
The policeman laughingly said, “Oh, that’s not the speed limit, that’s the name of the highway you’re on!”
To which the lady said, “Oh! Silly me! Thanks for letting me know. I’ll be more careful.”
The policemen then looked in the backseat and saw two other women shaking and trembling. Tenderly the policeman said to the lady, “Excuse me, but, what’s wrong with your friends back there? They’re shaking something terrible.”
“Oh, we just got off Highway 121,” the lady responded.
Mustering up the nerve to develop an annual stewardship plan can be an unnerving experience for most church leaders! But a plan in place is better and far less nerve-racking than having no plan at all!
John Wesley had a stewardship plan. “Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can!“ Obviously, he wasn’t intent on reinventing the financial wheel. He would hardly be known as a simple man, however. Multiplied thousands stood in the heat of a sun-drenched field to hear him preach his eloquent sermons during his itinerant gospel mission that spanned over 100,000 miles by horseback.
As a child, he read the Scriptures in their original language. In his adult years, he laid the organizational gridwork for the greatest social reforms known to man. In old age he was sought out for his sage advice and sanctified spirit. In death, he acknowledged the presence of the divine in his hushed room.
But the utter simplicity of his stewardship plan bridges all cultural, spiritual, and generational chasms. It was a God-inspired mixture of industry, frugality, and generosity that makes perfect sense, even in an age of debit card payments on candy bars.
Understanding the Importance of an Annual Stewardship Plan
What do we mean by an annual plan? A stewardship campaign is an organized program (plan) to educate and motivate the people in the local church to spiritual faithfulness. Although finances are usually the focus, an effective stewardship campaign is not just limited to finances. It includes the broader purpose of educating people in the proper management of their time, talent, and treasure for the glory of God--the total stewardship of the believer.
During the campaign, attention is focused on biblical stewardship through various teaching methods, including Sunday School lessons, small group Bible studies, preaching, direct mail, drama, testimonials, displays, etc. Usually a stewardship theme is chosen, such as “God is Able,“ or “Tithing is Christian,“ and the financial direction of the church is outlined in an approved budget that is presented to the whole congregation. The intent of the campaign is to make every person in the church aware of his or her responsibility to God, and to be obedient in giving through the church.
Stewardship campaigns are biblical. Just as a church has a campaign for soul winning, growth in attendance, or foreign missions, so a church ought to emphasize stewardship during a designated time of the year. A guiding principle is, whatever God has commanded His people to do, the pastor and church ought to motivate the congregation to perform.
Many mistakenly think that stewardship is just fund-raising. They often think that a stewardship program in a local church is raising money, much as a community agency raises money. Although money is raised during the campaign for the church budget, that is not the bottom line. Stewardship is not talking people out of their money. It is teaching people how to use their money properly.
Good Steward, Bad Steward
In Bible times, a steward was usually a servant who managed the household (or farm) for its owner. Jesus taught the importance of being a good steward:
Developing a Giving Church, by Stan Toler and Elmer Towns. Kansas City, MO, Beacon Hill Press, copyright 1999, pages 91-115. Used by permission. All rights reserved. To order, call 1-800-877-0700.
Perhaps you’ve heard about the policeman that pulled over a carload of women. The policeman walked up to the car and politely said, “Ma’am, this is a 65MPH highway—why are you going so slow?“
She quickly responded, “Sir, I saw a sign that said 22, not 65!”
The policeman laughingly said, “Oh, that’s not the speed limit, that’s the name of the highway you’re on!”
To which the lady said, “Oh! Silly me! Thanks for letting me know. I’ll be more careful.”
The policemen then looked in the backseat and saw two other women shaking and trembling. Tenderly the policeman said to the lady, “Excuse me, but, what’s wrong with your friends back there? They’re shaking something terrible.”
“Oh, we just got off Highway 121,” the lady responded.
Mustering up the nerve to develop an annual stewardship plan can be an unnerving experience for most church leaders! But a plan in place is better and far less nerve-racking than having no plan at all!
John Wesley had a stewardship plan. “Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can!“ Obviously, he wasn’t intent on reinventing the financial wheel. He would hardly be known as a simple man, however. Multiplied thousands stood in the heat of a sun-drenched field to hear him preach his eloquent sermons during his itinerant gospel mission that spanned over 100,000 miles by horseback.
As a child, he read the Scriptures in their original language. In his adult years, he laid the organizational gridwork for the greatest social reforms known to man. In old age he was sought out for his sage advice and sanctified spirit. In death, he acknowledged the presence of the divine in his hushed room.
But the utter simplicity of his stewardship plan bridges all cultural, spiritual, and generational chasms. It was a God-inspired mixture of industry, frugality, and generosity that makes perfect sense, even in an age of debit card payments on candy bars.
Understanding the Importance of an Annual Stewardship Plan
What do we mean by an annual plan? A stewardship campaign is an organized program (plan) to educate and motivate the people in the local church to spiritual faithfulness. Although finances are usually the focus, an effective stewardship campaign is not just limited to finances. It includes the broader purpose of educating people in the proper management of their time, talent, and treasure for the glory of God--the total stewardship of the believer.
During the campaign, attention is focused on biblical stewardship through various teaching methods, including Sunday School lessons, small group Bible studies, preaching, direct mail, drama, testimonials, displays, etc. Usually a stewardship theme is chosen, such as “God is Able,“ or “Tithing is Christian,“ and the financial direction of the church is outlined in an approved budget that is presented to the whole congregation. The intent of the campaign is to make every person in the church aware of his or her responsibility to God, and to be obedient in giving through the church.
Stewardship campaigns are biblical. Just as a church has a campaign for soul winning, growth in attendance, or foreign missions, so a church ought to emphasize stewardship during a designated time of the year. A guiding principle is, whatever God has commanded His people to do, the pastor and church ought to motivate the congregation to perform.
Many mistakenly think that stewardship is just fund-raising. They often think that a stewardship program in a local church is raising money, much as a community agency raises money. Although money is raised during the campaign for the church budget, that is not the bottom line. Stewardship is not talking people out of their money. It is teaching people how to use their money properly.
Good Steward, Bad Steward
In Bible times, a steward was usually a servant who managed the household (or farm) for its owner. Jesus taught the importance of being a good steward:
Jesus told his disciples: There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, “What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.”Jesus used the illustration of good stewards and bad stewards to teach how we should be stewards for Him. A stewardship campaign is not to acquire money for the church, but to teach believers how to live the abundant life. When Christians obey the financial principles of the Bible, their lives will be lived more abundantly, and God’s work will be financed.
The manager said to himself, “What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg—I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.”
So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, “How much do you owe my master?”
“Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,” he replied.
The manager told him, “Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.”
Then he asked the second, “And how much do you owe?”
“A thousand bushels of wheat,” he replied.
He told him, “Take your bill and make it eight hundred.”
The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches. And if you have not been trustworthy with someone elses property, who will give you property of your own?
No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money (Luke 16:1-13).
Developing a Giving Church, by Stan Toler and Elmer Towns. Kansas City, MO, Beacon Hill Press, copyright 1999, pages 91-115. Used by permission. All rights reserved. To order, call 1-800-877-0700.
