Passionate Steward - 10th Anniversary Edition

100 THE PASSIONATE STEWARD
value major gifts. In so doing, we have imitated the secular arena,
by devaluing regular and general philanthropy, especially amongst
middle income earning households. There is a causal connection
between secular fundraisers’ obsession with major gifts, and the
general decline in the participation and level of generosity in
philanthropy in general.
If people do not learn the love of humanity (philanthropy) from
the Church, then surely they will emulate what they experience in
society. This does not bode well for the Church or society as a whole.
Archbishop William Temple, a former Archbishop of Canterbury,
was right when he declared that the Church is the only institution
that exists for the sake of those who do not belong to it. In this sense,
we have an obligation not just to ourselves, but to society itself, to
stem the tide of poor stewardship, and to embrace and enact values
that are not only those of our Christian faith, but which are
compatible with good citizenship. For the sake of the Church, and
the world “God so loved” we must recover Christian stewardship
from secular fundraising without delay.