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A fruitful stewardship ministry, who can find? It’s not easy. As church leaders, we often struggle to embrace the conversation around stewardship. And usually, that’s because we’ve defined stewardship too narrowly.
To have an effective conversation around stewardship, sometimes we need to “undo” the framework we’ve been using. Three key realizations can help:
- The conversation is about discipleship. Stewardship isn’t about the blocking and tackling of budgeting and tracking spending. Sure, those are important – but they’re the “how”, not the “what” or the “why”.
- The conversation is for everyone. Stewardship isn’t just for those who are struggling financially and it isn’t just for those who are well-off. Because it’s about discipleship, it’s for everyone in the congregation.
- The conversation is one conversation. It’s not one conversation about getting out of debt for those who are struggling and a different conversation about generosity for those whom we’re hoping will give more. It’s one conversation about honoring God with the resources He has provided – resources owned by Him, not by us.
Podcast host James Lenhoff shows how churches can move from ineffective stewardship ministries based on insufficient understandings and divisive conversations to a holistic, fruitful stewardship ministry that encourages and grows the entire congregation in a key aspect of discipleship.