MISSION...
To encourage the generosity of people in giving their time, talent and treasure.
MEMBERSHIP:
Chair: a member of the congregation
Secretary
Liaison: Pastor
Other members do not have to be financial people (most churches look for financial people to serve on Stewardship – but put them on the Communications and Resources Committee). For Stewardship, find the marketing people. Stewardship needs members who are creative people willing to use their imaginations. These should be people who can communicate needs clearly and effectively.
If what you did last year in stewardship worked well, find something else for this year. Stewardship gets dry and dull fast. If something works, file it away to use again in 3 or 4 years, but for this year, do something creative and fresh.
Stewardship Committees should not encourage people to pledge to a budget, but to dreams and goals the church has for the coming year. Remember – most people cannot read a financial statement, so don’t make a big issue of publishing the budget. The spreadsheet budget will be interesting to a few, but most people need a narrative budget that talks about people and programs, not costs and expenses.
Stewardship is the grateful response to God's grace and goodness. It requires a consideration of how our choices affect us and others, of how we can be good caretakers of the created world, and of how we can best serve God as disciples of Christ.
CALENDAR ISSUES
No later than the November Session meeting -- have a plan in place and a committee or team selected. Report your plans to the Session so that all elders feel reassured that we are on a good time table. Many programs will need to start much earlier!
October - attend one of the weekly Staff meetings (schedule this in advance to be sure all will be present). Present the plans and the calendar of events to the staff so as to be sure there is good cooperation and no conflicts with plans from other ministry departments or committees.
November - meet with the Discipleship and Fellowship Committee to arrange for any stewardship lunches or dinners you may need to include in the January or February calendar.
December - give the individual (or the Mission and Outreach Committee) a schedule of Sundays when you will need to use the Focus on Mission for your program. If you wait until January, some Sundays will already be scheduled.
January Session meeting -- give the elders an update on the upcoming plans.
February -- this is the month we want to emphasis stewardship.
March -- give a final report to the Session. Communication and Resources Committee will want to know the final figures from the pledges.
