A year-round stewardship program consists of three major components only one of which is the financial campaign. The three components are:

• Stewardship Education
• Mission Interpretation
• Financial Stewardship

A year-round stewardship program is vital to the life of any congregation. The church is about enlisting and equipping disciples for the work to which we are called by Christ. Developing generous stewards also creates committed disciples. The year-round stewardship program is an important part of the task of equipping disciples.

Stewardship Education
Stewardship education is that portion of the program that helps the members of congregations understand the meaning of stewardship both biblically and theologically. Members of all ages are taught the lessons of what it means to be the stewards of the gifts of God. This program will help you locate and plan for stewardship education for all ages year round.

Mission Interpretation
Mission is the way that disciples use the gifts of God to show God’s grace to each other and to the world. An active mission interpretation program helps people understand the opportunities and the results of their stewardship. This program will link you to the latest information about the denominational mission program — in the presbytery, synod and General Assembly. It will also help you develop materials and presentations that will interpret your local mission.

Financial Stewardship
Financial Stewardship is the method by which we obtain commitment to the life of discipleship. This is done primarily through a financial campaign that provides the means for those commitments to be made. These campaigns often include the opportunity to make commitment of time and talent as well as money.

Organizational Responsibility, Committee or No Committee
Because congregations vary in size, available leadership, past history and current concerns, the tasks that are necessary for an effective stewardship program may be handle in different ways. The tasks used here identify responsibilities that important to assign to someone or some committee. This may be the session rather than a committee.

These tasks are:

• Stewardship Education
• Interpretation
• Promotion of regular financial commitments
• Special offerings
• Budget development
• Program planning

A committee may be formed to provide for these tasks or the may be assigned to one person.

The Role of the Pastor
The pastor, as spiritual leader of the congregation, has an important function in stewardship. The pastor supports and encourages the whole congregation in its growth in stewardship commitment, including, very importantly, financial commitment. This is accomplished not only by working with the stewardship committee, but also by taking a strong leadership role before the congregation in all stewardship matters.

The pastor plays a key role in developing a financially healthy congregation in many ways.

• Serves as an ex-officio member of the stewardship committee, meeting monthly with the committee chairperson and attends committee meetings at least quarterly.
• Serves as the theological resource person for the stewardship committee by leading the committee in Bible study/theological reflection on the subject of stewardship.
• Preaches at least quarterly on stewardship both in a holistic sense and specifically regarding money in the life of the congregation and its members individually. The connection between the use of one’s financial resources and one’s commitment to Christ should be stressed.
• Helps establish an attitude of openness in talking about money in the church’s life by:
  • Setting an example by sharing one’s own stewardship story;
  • Talking directly with members about the importance and appropriateness of their financial stewardship.
• Remains theologically aware about stewardship by keeping up on current books and articles, discussing the topic in study groups with other pastors, and attending continuing education events.
• Encourages stewardship committee members, officers and other members to attend stewardship-training events sponsored by various governing bodies.
• Interprets the needs and programs of the presbytery, synod and General Assembly.
• Participates in the process of developing the church’s annual budget by
  • Meeting with various committees as they plan for the coming year.
  • Meeting with the budget committee.
  • Encouraging and challenging these groups to ”dream” about program possibilities.
  • Stressing the importance for these regarding their expectations regarding the members’ response to possibilities for the congregation.

The Role of the Session
The session has the responsibility and power . . . "To challenge the people of God with the privilege of responsible Christian stewardship of money and time and talents, developing effective ways for encouraging and gathering the offerings of the people and assuring that all offerings are distributed to the objects toward which they were contributed; to establish the annual budget, determine the distribution of the church's benevolences, and order offerings for Christian purposes, providing full information to the congregation of its decisions in such matters."

The session appoints the Stewardship Committee Chairperson. For continuity, it is recommended that the session appoint a vice chairperson each year and that this person become chairperson the following year.

As the session and its committees develop programs, exercise fiscal responsibility, and model good stewardship, they signal what they consider important in the church's life. The session is entrusted with the stewardship of the church's resources: the time, talent, and treasure contributed by members. Communicating how these resources are being used builds trust in the leadership. When the session shares stewardship with the congregation so that members can participate in planning and doing ministry and mission, members gladly affirm by word and deed, "This is my church."

The Role of the Stewardship Committee Chairperson
The task of the Stewardship Committee Chairperson is to coordinate the congregation's year-round financial stewardship program. Key elements of this program include mission interpretation, stewardship education, and the annual financial stewardship campaign. Particularly important is the chairperson's ability to articulate the need for every member's response to the campaign and the willingness to talk about money and its role in clarifying an individual's priorities as a Christian. The stewardship chairperson should be an active financial supporter of the church. The chairperson must be aware of the breadth of the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and be willing to talk openly about the responsibility to support that mission.

Working with the pastor, and collegially with the Stewardship Committee, the chairperson has a number of responsibilities. Some of these will be carried out personally; others can be delegated to the vice chairperson or other committee members. The chairperson, however, should be familiar with all the committee's work. The chairperson:

1. Recruits and orients committee members.
2. Leads the committee in defining its tasks and goals.
3. Appoints or recruits individuals or small groups to carry out specific responsibilities.
4. Leads the committee in developing its budget.
5. Moderates regular (at least monthly) meetings of the committee.
6. Maintains accountability to the session through regular reporting, obtaining appropriate approval, and coordination with other committees.
7. Leads in evaluating the work of the committee and prepares a written report for the session.

The Role of the Stewardship Committee
The work of this committee is both spiritual and practical. It is spiritual in the sense that the committee has the responsibility of placing before the congregation the Christian basis for disciplined financial response to God. It is practical in the sense that the committee needs to challenge the congregation to respond to clearly articulated, specific financial goals that are designed to meet and advance the mission goals of the congregation and to support the work of the more inclusive governing bodies. To carry out the church's stewardship program, the committee needs to:

• Meet at least once a month.
• Review the work plans monthly and make adjustments as necessary.
• Delegate specific responsibilities to committee members or small groups.
• Engage in regular biblical and theological study on stewardship.
• Interpret the mission and ministry of the church in ways that challenge members to respond generously.
• Determine the method for obtaining financial commitments for the coming year.
• Work with the Christian education leaders to ensure an intentional, year-round and age-appropriate stewardship education program.

Recruiting a stewardship team for your congregation
There is a temptation to recruit a stewardship team exclusively from those whom we view as knowing something about money. We seek bankers, brokers, accountants and others whose money knowledge is obvious.

Stewardship is not, however, primarily a financial or administrative task. Stewardship is a spiritual exercise, an issue of faith development expressed in generosity and commitment to the funding of Christ’s work in the world. In recruiting for stewardship ministries, consider the faith development of those you are seeking.

• Those who display a spirit of generosity can teach the delight of that to others.
• Those who have committed to tithing often have wonderful stories to share about the joy of tithing in their lives.
• Creative types, who can develop bulletin inserts, skits, announcements, bulletin boards and other interpretive pieces, can educate and inspire others to spiritual growth and new levels of giving.
• Those with teaching skills, who are comfortable addressing audiences of various degrees of interest and ability, can help develop a stewardship ministry that is meaningful for both those who are already committed to proportionate giving and those who have not yet responded to Christ’s call for us to be stewards.

Some of your members with these skills will also be bankers, brokers or accountants, but they should be chosen for their spiritual gifts, rather than their money knowledge.