We’re living more and more of our lives at a distance. We stream movies instead of going out. Shop without going to a store. Chat with friends on a screen. We can work, learn, entertain ourselves, follow the news, even build relationships without ever being in the same room with another person.
There are wonderful things about this. Technology connects us across distance and makes it possible to take part when we can’t be together.
But there is something we risk losing when so much of our lives happens through a screen: the experience of being part of a community that we actually enter, see, and share with other people.
We’re not meant to live entirely as individuals. We need other people. We need places where we are known, where we notice and are noticed, where we have a part to play. Where our presence matters.
Church gives you something different
When you go to church, you see that faith is not just an individual experience. You belong to a particular people in a particular place. You gather in the same space. You worship together. You see one another. You know who is sitting in the pew beside you. You notice when someone is missing. You pray for one another. You sing together. You serve together.
And you share responsibility for the life of that community.
That’s where Stewardship comes in.
Stewardship is something we do together
One of the temptations in an annual pledge campaign is to look for the magic answer: the perfect letter, the right theme, the proven technique that will finally get everyone to increase their pledge.
There are excellent resources that can help, including many through our office (check out some of the resources posted on the diocesan website by clicking here). Please reach out to ask questions, consider new approaches, discuss best practices, etc. You can reach me by phone, at 973-430-9909, or email.
And, of course, I recommend taking advantage of the templates and materials available to you through our membership in TENS. This year’s passcode is Matthew22:4, if you’re looking for it.
Take advantage of everything available to you, but remember: The best Stewardship communication will sound as though it could have been written only for your congregation!
Your members should recognize themselves in it. They should hear about the people and ministries they know, the things that have happened in your congregation, the challenges you are facing together, and the hopes you have for the year ahead.
Use the resources. Borrow the good ideas. But make them your own.
Who is the community?
Linking Stewardship and Community can raise some interesting questions.
For example: Should we publish a list of people who have pledged?
Some congregations do. Others don’t. I sometimes wonder why some are so quick to assume that making participation visible is a bad thing.
If Stewardship is something we do together, why not let people see that we’re doing it together?
A list of pledgers isn’t about publishing how much anyone gives (rafter all, it is only a list of names in alpha order). It is simply a way of saying: These are the people who have made a commitment to the life of this congregation.
It can make participation visible. It can remind us that we are not simply paying our individual share of the church’s expenses. We are joining with other people to support a community we love.
Of course, every congregation will make its own choices about how it handles pledges. But I think it is worth asking whether our desire to avoid discomfort sometimes keeps us from showing what community looks like.
And that’s the larger question: What do our Stewardship practices say about how we understand the Church?
Join us on September 19
These are the kinds of questions we’ll explore at the upcoming Stewardship workshop, Growing Generosity, on September 19 from 8:30-11am here at the Diocesan Center.
We’ll talk about some of the practical (and sometimes thorny) questions that congregations face as they seek to build a culture of generosity. We’ll also look at how to use the stories, people, ministries, hopes, and challenges of your own congregation to make your stewardship communications sound like they came from your church, not a template. Oh, and it’s free!
Stewardship is something we do together
In a world where so much of life happens at a distance, the Church reminds us of something wonderfully simple and deeply important:
We belong to one another.
