Stewardship

Yours, Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the splendour, and the majesty; for everything in heaven and on earth is yours. All things come from you, and of your own we give you.

Stewardship is primarily about discipleship. As we seek to follow Christ, we are encouraged to notice God’s generous and faithful provision and respond accordingly. We often think of this in terms of money, but actually it is everything we can see around us and much more besides.

This whole-life approach to stewardship is embraced by the “Narrative of Generosity” resource produced by the Church of Scotland, and supported by a 2024 book entitled Living Generously, a copy of which is available in the Diocesan Office. The Church of England have produced the “Living Generously” resource for study and reflection, supported by ideas on encouraging generosity and enabling giving.

Further resources and ideas can be found in the documents and links below.

Made one with Christ, we offer you these gifts and with them ourselves, a single, holy, living sacrifice.

Small Group Resources

There are a number of resources that can be used as part of small group studies at any time of year. Here are just some suggestions.

Creation and Net Zero

The Fifth Mark of Mission is: “To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth”.

Care of Creation is about much more than reducing carbon consumption: it is about the whole integrity of the earth. Eco-Congregation Scotland plays a key role in supporting, resourcing, and encouraging Christians across Scotland in a holistic manner. The SEC Net Zero Team are also building up resources, tools, and training to support congregations in this work, particularly their journey towards net zero carbon.

People and their Gifts

As one song puts it: “the Church is not a building: the Church is the people”. People are both who we are and our greatest vehicle for mission. Identifying, growing, enabling and encouraging the divine spark and gifts within each person can be tricky to do well, but it is key for the flourishing of God’s reign. Here are a few things to consider.

Each person has gifts, skills and passions. It can be tempting to railroad someone into serving with their skills rather than their heart, particularly if those are skills our congregation desperately needs. While that might be helpful in the short term, it might not be fruitful in the longer term. Therefore, the key to valuing the person, and not just their gifts, is to listen to them and encourage them to give of themselves in a way that enables them to live life to the fullest.

What are considered ‘spiritual’ gifts? Many people may immediately think of ‘speaking in tongues’ or ‘prophecy’, and while that is correct, there are many more, such as administration, crafting, knowledge, musicianship, teaching, and writing. There are many ‘Spiritual Gift Assessments’ available online if you wish to invite individuals to complete these; however, if you are having conversations or encouraging reflection during worship, this document exploring gifts might be enough:

Discerning Spiritual GiftsDownload

Physical Assets

Many people in the church consider their buildings a drain on their resources rather than an asset to cherish and steward. This change in mindset is crucial, alongside some practical action, in ensuring all the congregation’s wealth is used for abundant life. It also goes beyond buildings to encompass garden space, signage, road frontages, and anything else the congregation physically owns. Here are some questions to consider:

  • What does a list of everything the congregation owns look like? 
  • What is actually in and around your space?  (Thinking about people is an important, but separate, task: see above!)
  • What might be in forgotten corners or be in a not-so-obvious place and so is now overlooked?
  • Who uses our property and when? When is our property sitting idle?

While it can be hard to see our space and resources with fresh eyes, it does yield interesting results. Play with the thought experiment: how would I look at this if I were seeing it for the first time? If that feels too tricky, perhaps ask people less familiar with the building to come and share their thoughts. From there, start to think about how your property can become more of an asset rather than a perceived burden.

For more thoughts, ideas, and links, read the document below:

From Burdens to AssetsDownload

Money, Money, Money

Regardless of how wonderful our people and buildings are, at some point we will need money to further God’s mission in the world. Whether it is to buy coffee to provide hospitality or to pay the stipend of a priest, the raising of money is part and parcel of being Church together. However, it is a difficult subject to discuss, not least because our Scottish culture has long made money a taboo subject. There can also be skepticism about what the church spends its money on and to what extent there is ‘value for money’. While we must be aware of all these concerns, we must also acknowledge that bills do need to be paid and that even their very existence is because of our collective response to God’s generosity.

A useful introduction to the theology and spirituality of financial stewardship is a lecture presented by Henri Nouwen in 1992, entitled The Spirituality of Fund-Raising. This helps us to locate the requirement for money within the framework of God’s work in the world, and that money should follow vision (not the other way round).

A recorded webinar from 2023 that explores this theological approach before considering ways of raising funds can be found on YouTube. This covers traditional means of giving / raising funds are covered as well as newer forms of income stream.

Other Resource Collections

Many other organisations have pulled together stewardship resources, either of their own making or sharing others. Here is a list of some of the most comprehensive but easy-to-navigate which we have discovered.

  • The Diocese of Winchester has a range of their own resources as well as links to other websites. Note that some things (e.g. Parish Giving Scheme) is only available in the Church of England.
  • The Church of Scotland Stewardship Team puts its recorded webinars, and other video material, on a YouTube channel. Some of it is specific to CoS funds, but other aspects are generic.
  • The United Methodist Church (USA) has a wide range of stewardship material, from blogs to sermon starters. It also has a very detailed 12-month stewardship plan, which is probably too much for most congregations, but it is well laid out and may have some useful resources to draw upon.
  • The Episcopal Network for Stewardship (TENS) is an organisation based in San Francisco which supports congregations with stewardship work. They have curated all their material in their resource library.

In the Diocesan Office, we hold a copy of Transforming Stewardship (2009), by C K Robertson, which is part of The Episcopal Church of the 21st Century series. It is available for congregations to borrow: contact the DMMC Team.

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