The Diocese of Newcastle The Universal word only speaks dialect David J Bosch 1991 Inside this booklet are a few ideas as to how your parish might run a Stewardship/Giving campaign. Using a flexible approach, it encourages and enables parishes to renew their Chris an Stewardship with the assistance of the Parish Giving Officer (PGO) and Church House administra on. Each of the programmes described in this booklet have been successfully run in parishes throughout the Diocese. These are ideas for your parish to build on. As already said, they are flexible, designed to fit your parish and your congrega on. Do remember that any campaign will only work if it has the total support of the incumbent and PCC (or DCC). It will be your enthusiasm that will help the worshiping family to engage with and understand the need to be good stewards of our places of worship. Read On... To put it simply, this is about Faithraising not Fundraising. GENEROUS ENGAGED OPEN 2
Every campaign is different. However, there are core ingredients that are essen al in any Chris an Stewardship Programme. Commitment and Enthusiasm from the incumbent and members of the PCC, par cularly from those who will form the planning group. Prayer to remind us that we are working with God and need His strength and direc on. Careful Prepara on to ensure the smooth running of the programme. Teaching Chris an giving as a response to God s grace, and sharing the Gospel through worship, upholding the mission and ministry of the Church. Imagina ve Material to convey the message. Responses from those members on your contact list. Thanksgiving to God for His help and support with the programme and for His Spirit moving the people to be er giving and greater involvement. The importance of Prayer, Bible Study, Teaching and Thanksgiving put worship at the centre of any campaign you may run. Sunday Worship is at the heart of what we are doing. A focus for our faith and discipleship journey. This is the way we will help our worshipping family to engage with the spiritual heart of the programme. 3 TRIO 1: Stewardship, Worship & Giving This programme is centred on three major stewardship ini a ves before Giving Sunday. 1 Using sermons to explore how our Chris an Faith impacts on our Time and Talents, our Money and our Mission and Ministry. Each sermon will ask a ques on of our congrega on. These ques ons may be If you had another hour a week, how would you use it?, As a Chris an how do you feel about Money?, What do you feel is your mission in the parish?. The answers are wri en on post-it notes and are brought to God during the service, as well as being displayed a erwards in church. 2 Prayer cards or A4 threefold leaflets about the subject preached are handed out a er the service to everyone present. These cards will then be available throughout the rest of the campaign. 3 Bible study evening/a ernoon with or without a Q&A session. Possible Bible readings for Stewardship Sundays: Time & Talent: 1 Corinthians 12: 1-8 Money: 2 Corinthians 9: 6-11 Mission & Ministry: 1 Peter 2: 9-10 and Ma hew 28: 18-20 Giving Sunday is the culmina on of the three previous sermons. Invita ons to a end the service are sent to those on the electoral roll, the worshipping family, supporters, families who have used the church, etc. At the service individuals talk about the value of their church and acknowledge the exci ng answers given to the ques ons. Another individual will talk about our housekeeping income and expenditure and the need to make up any shor all. All this is then brought together, usually by the Parish Giving Officer (PGO), talking about biblical teaching on giving and stewardship, why parish share is important and what happens next. A er the service each member of the church will receive an addressed envelope containing informa on, explana ons and a request for everyone to 4
consider what God and the Church mean in their lives and to respond generously with their me, talents and treasure. Response cards and envelopes addressed to the treasurer are also included. Those individuals not present receive their envelopes either in the post or by door drop. It is very important that every response card received is acted on and that those that do not respond are contacted and encouraged to do so. A month a er the cards are returned a service of thanksgiving is held. TRIO 2: Worship & Giving This programme is simply aimed at the core worshiping family. Unlike TRIO 1 invita ons are only sent to the worshiping family and those on the electoral role. It needs publicising beforehand to get across the message that a stewardship/giving event is happening, but it will be seen as an event coming from the incumbent or PCC, whereas TRIO 1 is more likely to feel that it came from the heart of the church. Similar to the previous Stewardship Sunday, we have three sets of speakers/presenters. The first will speak about the value of their church and what it means to them. Another individual will talk about our housekeeping income and expenditure and the need to make up any shor all. There are a number of ways to get this message across. Some use humour, others simple management techniques. All this is then brought together, usually by the PGO, talking about biblical teaching on giving and stewardship, why parish share is important and what happens next. A er the service each member of the church will receive an addressed envelope containing informa on, explana ons and a request for everyone to consider what God and the Church mean in their lives and to respond generously with their me, talents and treasure. Response cards and envelopes addressed to the treasurer are also included. Those individuals not present receive their envelopes either in the post or 5 by door drop. It is very important that every response card received is acted on and that those that do not respond are contacted and asked to do so. A month a er the cards are returned a service of thanksgiving is held. A single sermon/presenta on This has become increasingly popular in recent years. It works par cularly well in parishes that run annual giving campaigns or parishes that need to promote a par cular aspect of concern about stewardship in the parish. This may be about parish share or the need for a par cular job that urgently needs doing. Whatever the need for this kind of campaign there is s ll the need to have informa on leaflets and response cards given out at the end of the service. It also helps if me is found for a Q&A session to be run over coffee. Legacy Giving Talking about making a will or leaving a legacy to church can be a difficult topic to either preach on or to discuss. It makes perfect sense though to include this aspect of giving in any campaign you run. A Short Guide to Encouraging Giving Through Legacies is available free of charge from pack@churchlegacy.org.uk, or for more informa on you can visit our web site on www.newcastle.anglican.org/legacieswills. Each parish is being encouraged to have a policy on legacy giving and the PGO is available to come to a PCC/DCC mee ng to help formulate your thoughts on this. Also, should you wish, he can make a presenta on on the subject as part of your worship or at another 6
Stewardship Season Teaching and promo ng the Chris an giving of me, talents and money should be a regular ac vity in the life of a congrega on. The way in which we use our money, talent and me is a fundamental part of our Chris an living, our Chris an discipleship. STEWARDSHIP SEASON Congrega ons are encouraged to keep Chris an stewardship on their agenda by considering the giving of money, talent and me separately in a three year cycle, and in different ways from the tradi onal stewardship programme. Bible Study: Using the Bible to explore the reasons why as Chris ans we are asked to be generous with our gi s makes perfect sense. The leaflet Chris an Giving is Generous Giving helps to explore how such an event might be held. The PGO is available to help run such an evening or event as part of, or a er, worship. Using Luke and Acts the idea is to ask what was being said 2,000 years ago and what does this mean for us today? Giving for the Gospel: Jigsaw Jigsaw can be seen as a bit of light-hearted fun, but in fact it has worked very well at helping parishes connect with the concepts of either a Samuel moment Here I am Lord, or seeing themselves as helping to build God s Kingdom through the work of the parish church. Using jigsaws with 80 individual pieces, it aims to get across the idea that the church is like a jigsaw puzzle; if there is a piece missing it is not working properly, so don t you be the missing piece. Unlike other programmes, this one sends out the informa on, the response card and a piece of jigsaw to everyone the church wants to connect with before the Stewardship or Jigsaw Sunday. It also helps if the PGO can come to a service to promote and explain what is going to happen. This is the most expensive type of campaign as each puzzle costs around 120 to produce. A prayer leaflet for all church members. It can be used in conjunc on with a series of sermons exploring what is meant by stewardship. The leaflet is given out at the end of the sermon cycle or as a simple aid to encourage personal prayer and reflec on. Parish Prayers in a Time of Stewardship: This is intended to help focus the mind on all aspects of stewardship before a bible study/ques on and answer event is held. It has also been used as part of a pre-stewardship Sunday reflec on, either before the service commences, as a morning prayer, or as a special single service held during the week leading to Stewardship Sunday. 7 8
Weekly Bible Reading and Prayer Plan: The reading plan is designed to accompany your giving campaign. Either during the week leading up to, or the week following, Stewardship Sunday you will find suggested Bible readings, key verses and prayer prompts. This has been especially helpful for church members who may be unable to leave their homes but who s ll want to be involved. What it costs: The PGO will work closely with your steering group/pcc, a ending mee ngs, offering advice and generally helping you shape the campaign to fit your church style. Church House will provide (free) all your artwork/design needs, including dra s and camera finished artwork reading for prin ng or copying. If you want Church House to also provide you with your prin ng, the costs are as follows: Paper size Type Sided Price per sheet A4 Black & White Single 2p A4 Black & White Double 4p A3 Black & White Single 5p A3 Black & White Double 10p A4 Colour Single 8p A4 Colour Double 16p A3 Colour Single 10p A3 Colour Double 20p When you have completed your programme, the incumbent, treasurer and members of the steering group will be asked to complete a simple survey. This helps us to evaluate each programme and to make changes/ improvements when necessary. 9 We are all one body We give to God in grateful thanksgiving for all He gives to us. The Parish Church then uses these gi s to grow its mission and ministry, to pay its way and to pray its way. We are all one body, the Body of Christ. Affirma on of the Chris an Way: A prayer to conclude a Stewardship Service The priest, speakers and congrega on walk to, or turn to the font, or to the west door. As we follow the Way of Christ we affirm the presence of God among us, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God calls us to share in worship. Jesus said, where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them. God calls us to share in prayer. Jesus said, remain in me, and I will remain in you. God calls us to share the scriptures. Jesus met his disciples on the road and opened the scriptures to them. God calls us to share in communion. Jesus said, do this in remembrance of me. 10
God calls us to share in service. Jesus said, as you do it for the least of these, you do it for me. God calls us to share the good news. Jesus said, go and make disciples of all na ons. Following the way of Christ our Lord, go in the peace of Christ. Thanks be to God. Adding Value Is produced to help everyone in the church understand be er what the diocese is and what it does. It explains in clear terms what it costs for the diocese to run its mission and ministry, where the money comes from and how the money is spent. For further informa on or for an informal chat about the programme and how it could help your parish, contact: Richard Gascoyne Parish Giving Officer Church House, St John s Terrace, North Shields, NE29 6HS. Telephone: 0191 270 4136 Fax: 0191 270 4101 E-mail: r.gascoyne@newcastle.anglican.org It should be discussed at PCC/DCC mee ngs, and all members of the congrega on are encouraged to take me to read it. What is Parish Share? The Church of England rejoices in its calling to serve every person, in every neighbourhood, in the name of Christ. Under the leadership of the Bishop each PCC takes responsibility for the life of its own parish and shares in the work and resources of the Deanery and the Diocese as a whole. The Parish Share is the voluntary financial contribu on of every parish to the life of the Diocese. It is both a sign of interdependence and of mutual responsibility for the sustenance and flourishing of ministry and mission. 11 For further informa on about Stewardship and Giving in the diocese go to the website: www.newcastle.anglican.org/stewardship Produced by: The Diocese of Newcastle, Church House, St John s Terrace, North Shields, NE29 6HS GEO/2.2016.jp 12