Passionate Steward - 10th Anniversary Edition

Recovering Christian Stewardship from Secular Fundraising 31
attendance in order to meet the needs of society at large. Civics
programs have all but disappeared, and with fewer people
volunteering their time each and every year, the likelihood that this
trend will self-correct is unrealistic. Who then will teach
philanthropy—the Church, a community which believes in the
cause of humanity, or secular fundraisers and consultants who
operate for-profit commercial enterprises? The Church will not only
serve itself better by encouraging passionate stewardship, but in
recovering stewardship from fundraising, it will preserve its ethical,
moral and practical relevance to humanity.
Treasure
The Church is rightly concerned about its relevance to
humanity. The future not only indicates a dwindling number of
“donors,” but of worshippers as well. After all, it is highly unlikely
that people who quit giving to religious causes will continue to attend
worship services. Obviously, this has implications for both
evangelism and catechesis. A Church which fails to bear witness to its
first principles, whether in word or deed, runs the risk of disaffecting
those who come to it expecting a community which has the fortitude
and conviction to withstand the influences of transient secular values.
More to the point for our purposes, it is clear that apart from a
successful evangelistic initiative, the Church will matter to an ever
shrinking number of people. But more than this, the Church must
cope with demographic trends which are beyond its control. Consider
the premise of Canadian David Foot’s book, Boom, Bust and Echo, 16
which maps the implications of an aging and affluent baby boom
giving way to a smaller and less affluent “bust” generation. Even
without a decline in the percentage of people who are religiously
observant, the aging and consequent demise of a disproportionately
large and wealthy segment of the general population ensures that the
16 David Foot, Boom, Bust, & Echo: How to Profit from the Coming
Demographic Shift (Toronto: Macfarlane, Walter & Ross, 1996).