Stewardship: Time for a Paradigm Shift

Transcription

1 Stewardship: Time for a Paradigm Shift 1. INTRODUCTION a. Rodney Frieden elder in INUMC now serving at FUMC in Hagerstown i. Beginning 4 th year ii. First Finance Meeting $5 in bank and offering should cover bills/mortgage iii. Last finance meeting no debt, $25000 in checking, and in the past 2 years over $30,000 of repairs and upgrades added staff b. Secular Background i. Business Owner new business start up with annual sales of $8 million ii. Management for a $15 million dollar a year company iii. Consultant for a business group representing nearly a half billion $ in revenue iv. National Sales and Marketing Director for an International Company with over 300 retail outlets c. Church Work i. Castleton UMC as Lead Associate and Lead Pastor for Second Campus ii. Led the most successful stewardship campaign for church iii. Hagerstown iv. Youth Work v. Tithing Task Force vi. Consult as asked with churches 2. Our Task this morning is to learn something new about Stewardship: Time for a Paradigm Shift Get up I am getting your muscles moving and thinking this morning Move these 3 balls through the established pattern Move from Circle SHIFT Move from one ball to bag SHIFT NOW that you have experienced a paradigm shift lets learn about Stewardship and the potential for a shift in our thinking 3. What is stewardship? Why is stewardship important? Stewardship is more than offering When is your offering taken up? What is said prior to the offering most often? 4. Why is that after the offering a missionary can tell stories of their work and people will give more money? Was that money not in their pocket during the offering? Why did they not give? HOLD YOUR ANSWER because that in part is the SHIFT we need 5. Why are we here? a. DATA b. HANDOUT articles c. This is our opportunity this is our current reality waiting to be shifted 6. BREAK when we come back we will look at the shifts that are required Including why a single program will not create a Paradigm shift

2 7. The Theology of Money Opportunity for Shift a. Many clergy (and laity) are reluctant to talk about money i. Clergy are given no training in Seminary ii. Laity - Rule of Thumb don t talk about what you make iii. In our culture MONEY IS POWER iv. Why do people give? 1. To pay God back 2. To give back to group 3. To keep up with others 4. As extension of ourselves who we are control 5. Gratitude b. The Theology of Money Opportunities for Shift i. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. I Timothy 6:10 NIV Money IS NOT Filthy lucre (Titus 1:11) > Money is Neutral ii. All work is holy work > eliminate the notion of Secular Work iii. Offering as Worship > Offering doesn t supply the budget or need 1. When you do it and what you say (or don t say) are important 2. Refer to early remarks by group 3. SHIFT EXAMPLES a. Examples from book b. Nasal Spray iv. Ownership from mine > God s 1. NOT how can I give 10% of what is mine? 2. Instead ask how much of what God is given me am I gonna keep or give back keeping 90% is a good deal v. Sacrificial and Planned Giving vs To Compulsion and Tithe 1. I got news people expect pastors to tithe so telling them you do ain t nothing, but rubbing salt in the wound. TALK Sacrifice and planning 2. Too much talk about Tithing as a rule a. Caution with regards to finding a NT Biblical Model vi. A Biblical Basis for a Shift in thinking about Money 1. Revelation 21:21 Streets of Gold a. That is awesome b. See the riches of God s Kingdom c. BUT d. What if the lesson is that Gold is used to pave the streets because it looks good, but actually has no value greater than concrete?!

3 2. Matthew 25:14-19 Parable of the Talents a. Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; b. What if this Master is not God? c. What if we consider the economy of limited resource of the day d. Have you ever asked how these others earned the money? e. What if the hero is in the story is the one who stood up to the system and declared I won t play by your economy of rules? f. Be mindful that the next parable is about the arrogance of action vii. A Shift in our Conversation about Church Budgets - BREAK

4 8. SHIFT IN OUR TELLING THE STORY a. SHOW 3 VIDEOS b. Why do people give? c. Compare Data regarding Missional Giving d. Why is it so high? Where does this money come from? e. DOES THIS MEAN ARE CHURCHES AREN T ACCOMPLISHING THINGS? Doing ministry? Righting wrongs? Feeding the hungry? Caring for poor puppies? f. How do we change the conversation? SHIFT OUR THINKING Building a Narrative Budget: A Paradigm Shift (THIS IS AVAILABLE IN THE TASK GROUP REPORT) We need to begin to re-examine how we organize and talk about our church budgets and finance. Each year churches make a statement of faith in which they reveal that which is most important to them. This statement of faith usually is not declared on a Sunday morning, and quite possibly the majority of the church members never see or hear it. Nevertheless, the confession reveals the mission and everything else that the congregation values most. It is not a historic document or creed; this statement of faith is the annual operating budget. Annual budgets are not usually thought of in such terms. However, we believe they are the clearest statements of what congregations do primarily affirm. In the end, only those things that churches are willing to fund can be said to be of value to them. 1 We have long taught that being a member of the local church means that we were involved by our prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness. In other words, in order to belong, you must give. That thought process is very much church centered. That paradigm of thought must shift to a new paradigm a paradigm that is God-centered and not church-centered. In order to make this shift we must ask, How do we connect people to God? Giving should emerge from who and whose we are. Giving should be a part of our nature and not a requirement of belonging. Who, what, when, how, and why. We long ago learned about the five W s. In church stewardship, we have spent too much time looking at the first four W s and not enough on the last. When it comes to stewardship we know the following: We desire our members and our churches (the who) to tithe (the what) on a regular and on-going basis (the when). We accomplish this by collecting an offering during worship and conducting an annual stewardship/pledge drive (the how). The reason we do this (the why) is because we need to in order to pay the bills. But what if we moved from a mindset of scarcity of resources to a celebration of abundance? Our appeals for money would be about thanksgiving and not obligation or guilt based. John Wesley made an important distinction between having the faith of a servant versus the faith of a child of God. The Christian who has a servants faith gives out of obligation. Believing that if they fail to meet their obligation that God will somehow put them out of the house. A person with a child-like faith rests in the confidence of God s love. This person gives in joyful response to God s goodness and mercy. We can then give out of joy and not out of a need to support a budget or a church. 2

5 Most people who are giving to the church are giving a certain amount. People understand that they are giving to support the payroll, the building, programs, and missions. They give to support the church, but if they are to give more they want the answer to a basic question, Give me one good reason why I should more? Getting Started - Building a Budget Narrative The narrative budget provides multiple good reasons for people to give to support the work of the church. A narrative budget focuses more on outcomes and less on numbers. This type of budget is a representation of the line item budget put into simple easy-to-read descriptive terms. It transforms a line item of money and expenses into an exciting and enlivening picture of ministry, mission, and outcomes for the congregation. 2 Why do we need to do this? Because the number one reason people give is because they believe in the mission of the organizations they give to. 3 Research indicates that churches often fail to properly communicate the value of the ministries and programs they provide. Congregants, therefore, have a limited understanding of the use of their gifts in relationship to the overall ministry of the church. The vast majority of your membership doesn t care about the line items they just want to know if you are using the money they give to change lives for the better. EXAMPLES IN HANDOUT QUESTIONS

6 WRAP UP A Singular program will not FIX Stewardship A program by nature is something planned For a specific time For a specific place For a specific audience In order to thrive it must continually grow bigger better new By nature programs run their course We need A Process Utilizing programs but not dependent on a singular program A process encompasses/embodies all that an organization does HANDOUT United Church of Canada extensive research regarding healthy/vital churches with regards to stewardship practices (support of apportionments, local mission giving, financial health) Discovered 6 Practices/Processes revealed HANDOUT Review Handout CONCLUSION It is my opinion (and that of the Tithing Task Group) that we are not seeking a singular program summarized in a logo or a singular action, but rather a road map (process) that will guide our Conference, Our Local Churches, and individuals in developing a Consistent practice of Stewardship in this instance what we have done in the past to get us here will not get us to where we want to go THEREFORE we must have a SHIFT in PARADIGM.

7 Proposed Budget for First United Methodist Church EXAMPLE A Church leadership has put together a plan of ministry to support and invite others to Christ for the coming year. We celebrate all that has happened this past year, but recommit ourselves to reaching more people for Christ in this coming year while maintaining our priorities as a church. Fruitful Practice #1 Hospitality We seek to provide a place where people can feel welcome to come just as they are regardless of race, gender, politics, or socio-economics. We want to continue to increase the number of opportunities we have to engage new people in our community and to provide opportunities for our congregation to invite and bring others. We will continue to support programs that connect us with the community in a warm and inviting manner. We will continue to make our church facilities available for outside groups to meet such as: The Optimist Club, The Gideons, AA, and others. BUDGET TOTAL: $41,034 Fruitful Practice #2 Passionate Worship We seek to provide meaningful and life-changing worship every week of the year. This past year we held weekly worship services and on the average we had 122 people attend each of our services which was an increase of 8% over last year. Christmas Eve we conducted two services and had 252 people attend those services. We have added new members as well and had one new profession of faith. We were blessed by the music leadership provided by the Chancel Choir and the Bell Choir. We have also had an increase in the worship participation of a Children's Choir. During 2011, we plan to conduct weekly worship as well a special services (Christmas Eve, Maundy Thursday, and Ash Wednesday). The Choir is planning an Easter Sunday Cantata as well as a special Christmas Musical for Advent. And the new format for Children's Sunday School will allow for an expanded role of teaching music for the Children's Choir that will have the children s choir used regularly as part of our worship time. We plan to increase our worship attendance and have a goal to average 140 during this year. We want to see this increase to include at least 10 new members through profession of faith or through transfer of new residents to the community. BUDGET TOTAL: $40,820 Fruitful Practice #3 Intentional Faith Development Education has long been a priority of the church and is reflected in the number of adults involved in Sunday morning Education as well as the number of adults engaged in additional groups during the week such as UMW and the Men's Group. We want to continue to encourage people to be involved in the learning process beyond Sunday worship. An emphasis during this coming year will be placed on our Children's programs. This focus is designed to help retain children and families as they age. An emphasis on youth and young adults will be coming later in the year and during 2012 and beyond.

8 Our hopes for 2011 include adding a staff person to coordinate our efforts in the areas of education. Priorities in this area include reorganizing our Children's programs to maximize our education efforts with elementary age children and their families. This will include the start of the Breakfast Club on Sunday mornings and a new Children's SS program called 'Live BIG.' Efforts in the Fall will include beginning a confirmation styled young teens class and a youth program for the Winter. Adult Education continues as a priority. We will seek to add at least two new adult small groups and at least 3 additional education opportunities during the year. BUDGET TOTAL: $43,184 Fruitful Practice #4 Risk-Taking Mission and Service We seek to Reach out and engage our community and the world with the message of God's love. Our church has always been conscious of our need to Go into the world. This church has a strong sense of being servants and laborers in the vineyard of the world. We have been involved this past year with Work Camps, Monthly Community Dinners, Mommy and Me, our local Food Pantry, Financial Support of the Conference and other Mission Efforts. We have had countless hours of volunteer time given to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. We have extended our outreach to the community through tools provided the congregation to invite their friends and neighbors. During 2011, we will continue to expand our efforts to invite the community to engage our church in multiple ways including our new Cafe and the new Breakfast Club as well as being involved in Habitat for Humanity, our local Farmer s Market, and our town Jubilee Celebration and Parade. We have also pledged to give 11.25% of our offerings to the Conference and the District to support the cooperative ministries of the United Methodist Church. We will also continue to provide the opportunities to support missions through our Faith Promise Campaign and the promotion and support of other UM Advance programs like: SIFAT, Wings of the Morning, UMCOR, and Mission Guatemala. BUDGET TOTAL: $39,995 Fruitful Practice #5 Extravagant Generosity This church has continued its history of generous giving to support the work of the church locally as well as giving the extra mile through our mission offerings. This year we will again place an emphasis on our second mile giving through Faith Promise as well as a number of special offerings planned throughout the year. We also our planning to provide raises for our staff to reflect their value to us as a congregation. We also want to practice good stewardship and return to our practice, as a church, of giving a full tithe to the greater work of our District, Conference, and Denomination. BUDGET TOTAL: $37,945 The proposed plan will allow us to do all that we have currently planned and remain financially healthy. A detailed line item budget is available in the church office for any who wish to review it. Total Needs to fulfill our mission: $202,286