Stewardship 101 lessons from Stewardship Kaleidoscope

The Rev. Sandra Moon calls stewardship the ‘church’s theological antidote to the chief idols of our age — consumerism, materialism and acquisition’

by John C. Williams for the Presbyterian Foundation | Special to Presbyterian News Service

The Rev. Sandra Moon

Talking about money, and even more directly, asking for money as part of church stewardship, can make people uncomfortable — including church pastors and leaders.

That shouldn’t be the case, and the Rev. Sandra Moon explained why in her Stewardship Kaleidoscope 2024 presentation “Stewardship 101: What You (Probably) Didn’t Learn in Seminary.” Stewardship Kaleidoscope is an annual conference on stewardship and generosity organized by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. This year’s conference was held Sept. 23-25 in Portland, Oregon.

Moon is ordained in the PC(USA) and is also an attorney. She brings professional experience in law, ministry, fundraising, and higher education administration to her work as Ministry Relations Officer with the Presbyterian Foundation.

To make her point, Moon shared two definitions of the word “stewardship”:

“The careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care,” from Dictionary.com. Compare that with, “Stewardship is the multiplicity of ways that the people of God live out God’s mission in the world using all of the abundance that God has entrusted to them,” from Charles Lane and Grace Pomroy in their book, “Embracing Stewardship.”

Stewardship is many things, but Moon said it clearly is not:

• A once-a-year/seasonal event
• About meeting a budget
• Fundraising (though there are things to learn from effective fundraising tactics)
• About money in and of itself.

Instead, she encourages people to think of stewardship as “the joyous discipline of thanking God with the way we live our lives and spend and share our resources, the way we use the abundance that God has entrusted to us to our care to love God and our neighbor, and the church’s theological antidote to the chief idols of our age — consumerism, materialism and acquisition.”

And rather than focus keenly on financial gifts, Moon emphasizes the value of other gifts. These include:

• Time and Talent — volunteer to serve in leadership roles, participate and/or lead worship, teach Sunday school or volunteer for mission/outreach opportunities
• Treasure/Resources — financially support your congregation and consider your congregation in your estate plan
• Testimony — share the good news of Jesus Christ and share how your congregation is living out its call
• Ties — connect your family and friends with your congregation. This boosts membership — but more importantly, it boosts the vitality and life of the congregation, building a stronger church community.

She also emphasized that stewardship is something that we learn. “I believe we are created in the divine image and that we have generosity within us, but when it comes to stewardship practices, we have to be taught,” said Moon.

For Moon, her childhood pastor was one person who taught her about stewardship. “I remember the One Great Hour of Sharing,” she recalled. “My pastor passed out these fish banks and told us how there are some people … who go to bed hungry. He told us at every meal to say a prayer thanking God for the food we are about to eat and praying for those who are going without, and to put a couple of coins in that fish bank to be able to feed others.

“I remember the joy on Easter of bringing my full fish bank with probably two dollars’ worth of pennies,” she said. “That was my first experience of joy in giving.”

In her presentation, she shared data about trends in church finances. For instance, overall church income is rising, but it’s not keeping up with inflation. Only 5-10% of church attendees give a traditional tithe, and of that small percentage, 77% give more than 10%. In budgeting, the line item for “people” costs should increase annually; likewise, the line item for “place” should rise due to recent trends of increasing insurance and energy costs.

Many congregations rely on a small number of members/families to meet their budget, and most of those are people in their 70s-90s, she said.

In a long-running trend, dollars are up while the number of donors is down. Twenty-five years ago, two-thirds of Americans gave; today, for the first time, it’s under 50%. Part of that is competition: today there are more than 1.5 million nonprofits.

And church leaders and stewardship committees should highlight this note and post it in their offices: 75% of Gen Z and Millennial donors surveyed prefer giving online. That covers most people ages 45 and younger who need to be educated and cultivated as donors and givers. She described that offering online giving not only provides another way for the church to receive gifts but offers those who want to give online a way to fully participate in worship.

Moon emphasized teaching and celebrating stewardship year-round rather than only talking about stewardship as part of a fall pledge drive. Weaving stewardship, the giving of gifts and how the church is making an impact through sermons and other communications can help people understand how their gifts truly make a difference.

While Moon focused her presentation on annual giving, she also reminded people about the importance of planned giving in church stewardship. A planned gift is a major gift made during a donor’s lifetime or at death as part of the donor’s overall financial and/or estate planning.

These gifts can include stocks, equity, life insurance, real estate, personal property or cash. It is best for potential donors to work with their financial advisors on this type of gift, and the Presbyterian Foundation also offers expertise. Find the ministry relations officer for your region here.