Passionate Steward - 10th Anniversary Edition

Recovering Christian Stewardship from Secular Fundraising 77
covenant, and could accurately be described as all that we do after
we say, “I will, with God’s help.” In this understanding of
stewardship, gifts are freely and happily given; they are generous
and accountable, a visible sign of worship and gratitude to God.
The Church, however, has so thoroughly relied upon the skill
and teaching of secular fundraisers that we have all but forgotten the
wisdom of our own tradition, and seem unable to distinguish
between good theology and secular grabs for money. This situation
is exacerbated by the fact that secular fundraisers, in the attempt to
speak the language of their Church clients, have created an apologia
pecuniae seculariae (a secular fundraising apologetic) in order to
justify their methods in the context of faith communities.
Many Christians, for example, are familiar with the so-called
“quadrilateral” approach to authority, whereby the Church appeals
to the nexus of Scripture, Tradition, reason, and experience in
assessing the admissibility of a proposed view or action. Some
secular fundraisers have co-opted the language of the quadrilateral
ideal, but have distorted it by over-emphasizing experience and the
place of reason. The results are more in keeping with the teachings
of an MBA program than the theology of the Church.
So for example, a secular fundraising apologetic would justify
donor recognition programs on the grounds that experience shows
they elicit larger gifts—and since the object of the campaign is to
raise money, the practice must therefore appeal, ipso facto, to reason.
Donor recognition has become such a staple of secular fundraising
that hardly anyone questions it. Indeed, secular fundraisers often cite
the Protestant tradition of naming Churches for benefactors as an
example of the appropriateness of such donor recognition programs
as “naming opportunities.” Seldom does one hear an objection that
all we have comes from the hand of God: it was never our own to
offer in the first place, let alone for which to receive credit or reward.
Donor recognition presents three fundamental problems for
Christians. First, for the passionate steward, donor recognition has less