Questions about Stewardship
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
Questions on Stewardship
For the Rev. David M. Rider
Every autumn, we talk about stewardship and fundraising. What is the difference?
Both are honorable, important concepts, yet they start at very different points. Think of them as left and right channels in a stereo, bringing different sounds into pleasing harmony.
Stewardship comes from the heart and speaks not about the church’s need to receive, but our need to give. Our faith overflows with a spirit of abundance, as we draw upon God’s profligate love for us and our world. As divine grace flows through us and into the world—we call this Christian witness—then our words, actions, time, talent and treasure follow generously, too. The Gospel story of the widow’s mite helps us distinguish between riches and generosity. Further, stewardship helps us focus on the holy use of money by setting priorities for our households. Any spiritually mature person knows that our spending habits say much about our values, fears, yearnings and passions.
Fundraising takes an important—but different—approach. Money helps a worthy organization transform its mission into deliverable goods or services. As we convert vision into action, financial resources help achieve accountable results. Dollars enable worship and program space, paid staff to lead programs, supplies for church school and creative ministries beyond our campus. Faithful fundraising presumes that our leaders create competent, transparent budgets that anticipate expenses and inspire our participation. Each household provides—to the best of its ability—a fair share of the cost. Most voluntary organizations craft budgets and assess members for their share. As a church, we rely upon members’ generosity instead of an invoice.
How do these dynamics work at St. Mark’s Church—what makes us distinctive among Episcopal churches?
Given our community’s demographics, stewardship focuses on our living abundant, thankful lives.
I am fascinated by our range of giving at St. Mark’s. I review family giving line-by-line precisely because I see giving as a spiritual statement. Of course, we have varied financial circumstances, but how do we make sense of the fact that 15 families give over $10K annually while more than 153 households give at or below $1000? Name the five things for which you are most grateful in this life. If God has a role in any of those five, how do you give back with abundant gratitude? How does your giving fit your spiritual story?
On the fundraising side, our parish is a tale of two cities. If our “fair share” cost for 2006 approximates $3700 ($1.3 million in aggregate giving divided by 350 pledging households), our 2005 pledging records show that 70 households meet/exceed that number while more than 274 households fall short. I thank those households pledging beyond their fair share and encourage others to step up to the plate. As I said at our Annual Meeting, those below their fair share are on scholarship, subsidized by others’ gifts and our diminishing capital reserves that absorb our six-figure operating deficit. Scholarships have a worthy place in our world, but only for those in real need. Unlike colleges, we don’t review tax returns, so it’s an honor system.
How do we strengthen our pledging base to create a synergy of stewardship and fundraising?
First, we agree that stewardship trumps fundraising, however important the latter may be. If we truly believe, as Scripture says, that Jesus came so that we may have life and have it abundantly (the opposite of human parsimony), the rest takes care of itself. Sometimes, it feels like every other conversation in our town focuses on wealth management—from the hottest stock tip to the increasing square footage of our homes. If a sacrificial proportion of our resources (Scripture calls us to a 10% tithe; I’ll settle for 5%) goes to build up God’s Kingdom in thanksgiving for what He has given us, then ministry, proclamation and community service will run rampant.
The New Testament witness cannot be clearer in its accountability for giving at the core of Christian practice. We may not be called to equal giving, but we are called to equal sacrifice to build up God’s Kingdom. Many hands make light work, and many purses enable faithful, imaginative ministry to flourish. Anyone who claims St. Mark’s as home should make a pledge to our enterprise. It strengthens our claims to the community and honors others who carry their load with joy and personal sacrifice.
As a parish family, I hope we can stretch from 340 pledging households to at least 350 and from $1.0 million of aggregate giving to $1.30 million. Such a leap of faith helps us move beyond hand-to-mouth existence toward the thriving community which is our goal.
How does our stewardship connect to a biblical vision of discipleship?
Already, I have emphasized abundant living at the core of Christian witness. Themes of economic justice and distribution of wealth permeate Scripture. Equally replete are claims to abundant—not opulent, but abundant—giving between God and His disciples. We call this the stewardship of our time, talent and treasure.
Nowhere in the Bible is this clearer than the Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke
Let’s return to St. Mark’s and hope we have no Rich Fools among us. Where do we go from here?
In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul reminds us that the Christian body is one yet has many members. We flourish or suffer together with a common purse. As we prepared for our recent capital upgrades, I met with some of our most generous families to ask for their additional support. Each responded generously to my solicitation, but each also asked when others would do likewise. As a parish, we risk what development professionals call donor fatigue. (Remember that at summer camp, the first skinny-dipper off the diving board hopes others will follow and not laugh derisively at the dock.) Faithful veterans carry a disproportionate amount of our freight: our 15 households who currently pledge at or above $10K have average parish tenure of 21 years and include no households new to St. Mark’s in the last seven years.
Are you making a stewardship or fundraising pitch?
Go back to my analogy of the left/right stereo channels. One channel—stewardship—points to proportional giving as the sign of Christian abundance. Tally your annual household income and prayerfully consider returning 5-10% for God’s work. Alternately, pick any percentage of income and add another percent each year as a spiritual discipline. The other channel—fundraising—beckons each household to contribute at least its fair share to the common purse. For 2006, we anticipate that number to be $3700.
The two stereo channels create beautiful music and harmonize stewardship and fundraising when a household with $75K income contributes $3700 (which is about 5% of $75K). The rest is simple math.
Spiritual practice regarding money comes together with faithful participation in our church when we articulate these two benchmarks for our giving: 5% of household income (stewardship) or $3700 per household (fundraising fair share). Let your generous heart find a place between these two numbers.
Should newcomers and veteran parishioners share a similar perspective?
Absolutely. At some point in time, each of us was a first-time visitor to St. Mark’s. We saw how decades of giving to create a physical and spiritual ecosystem called Church. As we move from visitor to stakeholder (and I fear that some have been visitors for a decade), we take our place as stewards who receive from a past generation and hand on the next.
I hope every visitor eventually joins St. Mark’s as parishioner. Of course, our clergy are available to discuss personal concerns and the right “fit” of community. Thriving churches reflect a wide range of individual tenures, but they embody one community of faithful stakeholders in leadership and financial support.
That said, I’m surprised that a few veterans have not become pledging members. When you tell me you have been around here for years and are not pledging, I ask why. Some are Sunday ushers, a few sing in our choir, others have children in church school or EYC. Fortunately, they are few, but we must encourage every household to pledge.
You have described some households as being on scholarship. Is that a bit over the top?
I was on scholarship in college and seminary, and I would have missed an outstanding education without it. The generosity of others—historic endowers and current donors—made up for disparities in income and ability to pay. Embracing a scholarship is honorable, and its impact has made
In the spirit of the widow’s mite, take the lower of 5% of household income or $3700 fair share. If you can’t make either, scholarship remains an honorable choice. If you can afford the numbers but decline the opportunity, contact me for spiritual conversation.
You have been discussing objective numbers like 5% of income or $3700 per household. What about the spirit in which we give?
Scripture says God loves a joyful giver. That’s not a pious platitude; it’s the basis of Gospel generosity. We love—and give—because God first loved—and gave to—us. A Freudian psychiatrist once told me that all therapeutic conflicts revolve around God, sex and money. I nod in agreement but say Ditto for spiritual conflicts. Who is in charge of my life? Do I need and want others—human and divine—in my life? When do sex or money flow as love and when are they played out as aggression? Do I take my marbles and go home, or am I a member of a team? Do I demand my own way, or do I tend to the needs of others? It’s fascinating stuff, and St. Mark’s serves as a cauldron of human conflict or Gospel transformation. The choice is ours.
What can you tell us about next year’s operating budget?
Any faithful budget communicates an organization’s values, aspirations and priorities. At St. Mark’s Church, we value transforming liturgy of song and prayer, we engage in cradle-to-grave spiritual formation and we offer our facilities to our parish and town. Our internal pastoral care and our community outreach embody the baptismal covenant to respect the dignity of every human being. We pursue ministries like our choirs, church school and EYC while we funnel May Fair proceeds to worthy partner organizations that complement our values. We subsidize the costs of our nursery school, food bank, scouts, New Canaan Senior Men’s Club and several 12-step groups.
For 2006, additional expenses challenge business as usual. After several transitions, our parish staff is fully budgeted for 12 months. Debt service for capital upgrades and roof (see October Lion’s Roar) will add some $70K to our 2006 operating cost. We consume 40,000 gallons of heating oil annually, and everyone knows where that cost is headed. Before we dream new dreams, the cost of business as usual goes up a big notch.
We are concluding the first year of an extended interim period. During this time, we are discerning whether God is calling us to thrive and grow, tread water or downsize in creative or desperate ways. I believe God calls us to grow in exciting ways, but we face community discernment and I may be wrong. But I know—the Bible tells me so—that God wills abundant living and faithful witness for each of His disciples. This belief helps me sleep well at night and spring into action each morning.
If you believe that God is calling us to go grow and thrive, you can become part of the solution immediately. In addition to your 2006 pledge, take these principles and apply them to 2005. Consider doubling your current pledge for the remaining weeks of this year. The Rider family gave a $2000 gift to our summer capital upgrades; if your circumstances allow, do the same today (simply note “capital upgrade” on the bottom of your check). Of course, you can go beyond the immediate and remember St. Mark’s in your estate planning, too.
Let’s put the “can do” spirit of
