Passionate Steward - 10th Anniversary Edition

Recovering Christian Stewardship from Secular Fundraising 111
Jesus” sale), which is a lot of work, for a lot of people, for relatively
little money. But real stewardship isn’t just about money. Events
like a bake sale or bazaar have all sorts of corollary benefits: not
least is the gift of time and talent which they invite, the leadership
and organizational skills which they develop, the sense of
community which is built, the opportunity for the parish to connect
with its neighbors, and so on. Any effort which is narrowly focused
on money, or which strives to use as few volunteers as possible, is
antithetical at the level of first principles to Christian stewardship.
This is not to say that bake sales and car washes can, or ought, ever
to replace the ongoing parish stewardship program; but it is to
protect their place as augmentations to the broader plan, and as
significant opportunities to promote the generous giving and
gracious reception of time, talent and treasure.
It is important for the Church to keep its first principles at the
forefront of its decision-making about stewardship. To the extent that
the Church has been seduced by the secular obsession with
implementing the most resource-free and cost-effective fundraising
practices available, and intertwined them into our own stewardship
practices, we have come to behave as if we believe that cost-effective
means “good.” Yet, no Church can claim to be truly cost-effective: the
cost of maintaining our buildings and paying our clergy is almost
always higher than the costs associated with the ministry, program
and witness the Church provides. To thus conclude that the Church is
not “worthy” of charitable support would be ludicrous. The truth is
that cost-effectiveness sometimes gets in the way of fairly evaluating
a charity’s worth, and always of assessing the worth of the Church, to
whom God has entrusted the ministration of the very most priceless
of treasures—redemption in Christ Jesus.
Annual Financial Programs
It is this larger and sacred mission to minister Christ to the
world that lays upon us the need for adequate and stable revenue,