Ministry Engagement and Support adopts a new name
Name change to Stewardship and Funds Development signals new directions in the PC(USA) ministry area’s work
LOUISVILLE — In the biblical narrative, a new name is often a sign of a new season or identity.
Likewise, in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the renaming of programs and ministries signals not only transformation but also an acknowledgment of the denomination’s changing needs and current realities.
Effective immediately, Ministry Engagement and Support (MES) — so named for its staff’s charge to interpret Presbyterian mission and ministry primarily to mid councils and congregations — will be known as Stewardship and Funds Development (SFD).
The Rev. Dr. John Wilkinson, director of MES since May 2023, shared the name change at the May 21 meeting of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) A Corporation Board.
Much like the PC(USA), MES itself has also experienced significant change in the last several years. Three years ago, the 225th General Assembly (2022) moved MES from under the oversight of the former Presbyterian Mission Agency to the A Corporation’s Administrative Services Group (ASG), where its name again changed from “Mission” to “Ministry” Engagement and Support. That move was also met by several leadership changes.
At the same time, the Church itself — like nearly every public and civic institution — has been undergoing significant change, including membership decline.
In the wake of the PC(USA)’S decreasing membership — which commonly translates into reduced budgets — coupled with the changing role of the church in society, individual Presbyterians, congregations and mid councils find themselves facing financial challenges as never before.
“The big conclusion we reached after working extensively with a consultant last year to do a full-on assessment of our work,” said Wilkinson, “was we needed to be more clearly focused on funds development. We are in an uncertain economic moment.”
Yet even as denominational membership numbers continue to decline at a steady rate, the Interim Unified Agency’s annual report on church statistics for 2024, which was just released, shows an increase in financial contributions.
“God has given us all the gifts we need — the resources, vision and leadership — to respond faithfully in our current context,” said Wilkinson, “and SFD is here to support and resource synods, presbyteries, congregations and individuals as they address today’s financial climate.”
The ministry area’s new name is also accompanied by a new structure, whose corresponding staff and offices will also be renamed.
Current staff members who work with what was previously called the office of Special Offerings and Appeals will now be reconstituted as the Annual Giving Team, focusing on the Special Offerings, Presbyterian Giving Catalog and PILLARS, SFD’s recurring giving program. Funds Development Operations, formerly known as Relationship and Development Operations, will continue to do the work of gift processing, communicating with and thanking donors, tracking giving statistics and trends, and generating data reports. The staff team previously called Ministry Engagement Advisors are now known as the Stewardship and Major Gift Team, composed of Stewardship and Major Gift Officers.
Big changes are also in the offing for the PILLARS program, which was launched in the summer of 2017. The goal is to significantly increase donors from the current number of 600.
“We are living into a more robust major gift strategy,” Wilkinson told the A Corporation Board on May 21.
Wilkson had also alluded to the forthcoming changes at a February 22 “Future of Faith & Finance” regional forum in Columbus, Ohio, which was held in partnership with the Presbytery of Scioto Valley and Muskingum Valley Presbytery.
“Because we know that every church, even the most healthy and vital church, is asking questions about its financial future, we want to provide a place for those conversations,” said Wilkinson. “Not that we have all the answers, but we can point people to resources. We want every participant to leave these events with a sense of hope, possibility and connection. These forums are a vital way to get our word out.”
Most importantly, Wilkinson asserted that the new name “reflects what we believe, who we are and what we do.”
“Stewardship is a core understanding of our faith,” said Wilkinson, who brings a theological and pastoral understanding of stewardship and funds development to his work. “We are all called to be stewards, and stewardship invites us to care for the generous gifts given to us by a gracious God, and then to invest those gifts — to give them away — to advance God’s work. Stewardship is at the heart of what we do, and who we are called to be.”
Wilkinson added that although “Funds Development” is more clearly descriptive of the work that the former MES has done all along, that critical aspect was not reflected in the ministry area’s previous name.
“Now it is!” he declared. “And it clarifies the important need for financial support of the work of the Interim Unified Agency of the PC(USA) in this significant season of change.”
For additional details as the structural and staffing changes are rolled out, visit the Stewardship and Funds Development webpage.
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