Pastor Poll on Stewardship

Pastor Poll on Stewardship August 2012 During the past year what methods were used in this local congregation to encourage financial giving by members? What s your secret for sustaining a stewardship emphasis over the long term? What are your recommendations for things to avoid in stewardship education? Where do you think Adventist stewardship education should go in the next five years? Conducted by the Center for Creative Ministry for the North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church

Project Director Paul Richardson Research Analyst Monte Sahlin Interviewer and Writer Curtis Rittenour Center for Creative Ministry Paul Richardson, Executive Director PO Box 683 Milton Freewater, OR 97862 800-272-4664 (Phone) 775-587-5345 (Fax) www.creativeministry.org 2012, North American Division and the Center for Creative Ministry The entire content of this report is copyrighted material. Nothing is to be copied from it without the permission of the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists or the Center for Creative Ministry. Pastor Poll on Stewardship: August 2012 Page 2 of 9

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Between April 16 and August 16, 2012, twenty-eight (28) Seventh-day Adventist pastors from across the North American Division were interviewed by telephone on the topic of stewardship. The pastors were selected from each Union Conference. Three pastors were interviewed from each of the nine Unions, plus one more in the Southwestern Union Conference. Numbers in parentheses below represent numbers of pastors. Since some of the interview questions were open-ended, there is a subjective element to the analysis of the data and therefore the percentages are approximate. The raw numbers of comments are often recorded since some pastors spoke more than once on an issue from a slightly different perspective. HIGHLIGHTS Forty three percent (43%) of these 28 congregations have experienced major conflict in the last five years. Ninety six percent (96%) of pastors use stewardship sermons to encourage giving among their members (i.e. 27 out of 28 pastors in the survey). The most common other plan mentioned for encouraging giving was family financial management seminars with 50% of pastors mentioning this method. Two methods for sustaining a stewardship emphasis over the long term were referred to by 50% of pastors: preaching on stewardship and communicating financial needs to the congregation. The main thing pastor s said to avoid in stewardship education was negative offering appeals (begging for money, harping on the topic, and scolding). When it comes to the direction of stewardship education in the next five years about 40% of pastors stated something about resources, especially materials in the area of personal and family financial management for members. Also reaching younger generations. DEMOGRAPHIC DATA GENERATION: Silent before 1946 (none), Baby Boomers 1946 to 1964 (18), GenX 1965 to 1976 (9), Millennials after 1976 (1) YEARS AS A PASTOR: 10 years or less (7), 11-20 years (8), 21-30 years (10), 31-40 years (3) EDUCATION: Secondary Diploma (1), Bachelors (3), Masters (18), Doctorate (5) ETHNICITY: Asian or Pacific Islander (2), African American (6), Caribbean (2), White (18) SABBATH MORNING ATTENDANCE: o Present: 100 or less (5), 101-200 (9), 201-300 (5), 301-400 (5), 401 or more (4) o Five years ago: 100 or less (11), 101-200 (9), 201-300 (5), 301-400 (2), 401 or more (1) o Changes from past to present: Increase (24), decrease (1), no change (3) Have there been any major conflicts in the church during the last five years? o Yes (12), No (16) Pastor Poll on Stewardship: August 2012 Page 3 of 9

FINANCIAL HEALTH OF THE CONGREGATION How would you describe your congregation s financial health? Present: Excellent (5), Good (10), Tight (10), In some difficulty (2), In serious difficulty (1) Five years ago: Excellent (5), Good (8), Tight (10), In some difficulty (4), In serious difficulty (1) Changes from past to present: Improvement (6), same (19), worse (3) How would you assess the impact of the 2008-2009 economic crisis on your congregation s income? Our income has declined a lot (4) Our income has declined a little (8) Our income declined at first, but has since rebounded (5) No significant change in income (6) Our income has grown (5) Pastor Poll on Stewardship: August 2012 Page 4 of 9

QUESTION 1: During the past year what methods were used in this local church to encourage financial giving by members? Pastors were given a list of options (that included other ) and could choose as many as applied. They are listed in order of frequency indicated by pastors (with raw number and percentage): Sermons on stewardship or appeals by pastor (27, 96%) Appeals based on specific, concrete, and special needs (25, 89%) Appeals or testimonies from lay members during worship (21, 75%) Other methods not on this list (21, 75%) Distribution of promotional material such as bulletin inserts (20, 71%) Special fund raisers such as fairs, yard sales, bake sales, etc. (18, 64%) Pledge or commitment cards (12, 43%) Special offering envelopes with suggested giving guidelines (11, 39%) Canvass members by phone or in person; member visits (7, 25%) Comments on this question were volunteered by pastors: Regarding stewardship sermons, pastors who answered affirmatively often volunteered that they preached between one and four sermons annually, usually in a short series. Most preached one or two sermons. Some preached three or four sermons a year. Pastors often stated that the appeals and testimonies made by lay members during worship services were almost always tied to the regular offering time. The most common bulletin insert mentioned was the StewPot resource. Some also mentioned that they put notes or graphs in the bulletin to keep members updated on the church budget and other funds. Though this question is objective with only specific choices, it should be noted that when pastor s asked for clarification on Special offering envelopes with suggested giving guidelines, (i.e. Does this mean an envelope different than our regular conference envelopes?) they were told, Yes, this means a special envelope created by the local church. OTHER METHODS The most common comment made by pastors about other methods being used had to do with conducting finance seminars. About 50 percent of pastors spoke of conducting classes for members. Dave Ramsey s materials were most often mentioned (8), followed by using Ed Reid s materials (4), then using a conference or union stewardship director as the instructor (4). The second most frequently mentioned other method had to do with capital campaigns for building programs. About 30% of the pastors spoke about work they had done, are doing, or are planning to do in raising funds for a building project. Pastor Poll on Stewardship: August 2012 Page 5 of 9

OTHER COMMENTS Miscellaneous other comments were made, each just once, except the first item below, which was mentioned by two pastors: We are conducting a letter writing campaign to raise funds. The biggest need in the NAD is for practical help for our members in their personal and family finances. We use Crown Financial Ministries materials. Our own members have conducted finance seminars for our church. We voted that all our leaders must return a faithful tithe and support our budget if they are to continue in leadership positions in our church. I encourage electronic giving through our web page. We specifically teach all our new members (baptized or transfers) about stewardship principles. Gordon Botting has done a seminar at our church. We use goal devices to help members visually see where we are at with certain projects. I present an annual State of the Church report every January. It includes a section on finances. I ve created a dashboard to give quick statistics on key indicators and presented it to our members in church business meetings. I send out a weekly email to our members and if finances are dragging, I give it a little push in this email and it seems to help. I showed my congregation a YouTube clip someone shared with me called God s Pie that was very good. Pastor Poll on Stewardship: August 2012 Page 6 of 9

QUESTION 2: What s your secret for sustaining a stewardship emphasis over the long term? Half the pastors interviewed (14) said preaching on stewardship is an important key to sustaining stewardship over the long term. Five pastors mentioned they do this more than once a year (two or three times) and three pastors do a series over at least four Sabbaths. Some emphasize stories in their sermons. Others use graphs. One stressed teaching fundamental principles from the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy. Another said, I try to mention stewardship in some way in almost every sermon. Half the pastors (14) also said it is important to clearly communicate the church s financial needs as a way to sustain a stewardship emphasis. Many stressed putting items in the bulletin or making comments during announcement time on Sabbath. Several spoke of the need to clearly explain to members where their tithe and offering dollars go. One mentioned using the church newsletter. Three other items were mentioned by about 25% percent of these pastors (6 or 7 each): The first was to provide a clear vision for stewardship. Some said that members need to see the primary focus of the church is on soul-winning and evangelism. Others stressed that a personal commitment to Christ must be the key. Still others emphasized the whole life approach to stewardship that goes beyond money. Another secret for sustaining a long term stewardship emphasis is the concept that stewardship is something that must be taught over and over. One pastor said, You must educate and reeducate members in the principles of stewardship. You are never done. About 25% of the pastors say they encourage lay members to take the lead in stewardship education. Some pastors rely on a good finance committee and chairperson to communicate with members. In one church the stewardship leader makes a 4 to 5 minute presentation most Sabbaths. Another pastor said, I try to stay out of the way. My leaders do well in presenting stewardship to the people. Other ideas mentioned by at least two pastors include: The church needs a special outreach project (local community or foreign mission); home visits are key; prayer (and fasting) is very important; visible pastoral support is needed. Ideas each mentioned by just one pastor: Make special appeals in the month of December; use Coleman Stewardship Services for capital campaigns; pastors need to know how to read a financial statement; balance appeals between strategic givers and project givers; use Ingathering-type containers for members to take home and put money into; the pastor should monitor members giving very closely; offering appeals should be presented positively; stress systematic benevolence; if your church is upbeat and going places, people will give. Pastor Poll on Stewardship: August 2012 Page 7 of 9

QUESTION 3: What are your recommendations for things to avoid in stewardship education? Half of the pastors interviewed (50%) spoke about negative approaches to offering appeals. Most said to avoid harping, pushing, scolding, begging, embarrassing or humiliating people into giving. Others said not to make long, drawn out appeals. Spread appeals out. Don t pile them on people. One pastor said that in some churches members may be inundated on some Sabbaths (including Sabbath school) with up to four or five appeals. We don t want people to think the church is always asking for money. A quarter of the pastors (25%) said it is a mistake to focus primarily on money or on their money. In other words, not only does our money belong to God, but all we own belongs to the Lord. We make a fatal error, one pastor stated, when we associate money alone with stewardship. Stewardship is about the commitment of our whole life to God. Another said, We should teach people how giving brings souls into the kingdom of heaven. One in five pastors (20%) said we should avoid unclear communication with our members about church finances and offerings. Some pastors said we need to clearly let people know what their offerings are going toward. Another said, We should not surprise members with appeals, but should let them know ahead of time about special calls for projects. Other comments that were made by two or three of the pastors: Avoid using worldly methods to raise money (a carnival approach, gimmicks, tricks, slick marketing methods) Avoid special project giving vs. the systematic benevolence plan (one pastor said special projects tends to side-track the church from its purpose of winning people to Jesus) Avoid being afraid to talk about stewardship for fear people will react negatively and don t be afraid to ask people for a commitment Comments made by just one pastor in each case: Pressing visitors to give; not scaring people with the Ananias and Sapphira story in Acts; thinking only one approach will work in every church; hesitating to move forward on a ministry project if all the money is not in hand; sharing confidential facts about members giving; preaching a prosperity gospel ; bragging about our church s giving to others; defining exactly how much members should give to certain projects; being closed as a pastor about your own giving and your journey on this topic over the years. Pastor Poll on Stewardship: August 2012 Page 8 of 9

QUESTION 4: Where do you think Adventist stewardship education should go in the next five years? About forty percent (40%) of the pastors mentioned resources. The most common reference was the need for practical seminars on managing personal finances. Other comments about resources: Find non- Adventist resources that are good and Adventize them; communicate directly to pastors and don t rely on the trickle down method; remember Canada when making and distributing resources (shipping, delays, etc.); John Maxwell s Stewardship is Lordship seminar is very good; I ve appreciated the 12-15 page booklets with a sermon that have been created; the Contagious Generosity resource is very good; please include a small group element in resources; I really appreciated the DVD made about six years ago explaining the Personal Giving Plan; stewardship needs to be packaged in an overall discipleship curriculum as one of the components; pastors in the field need more awareness of resources that are available; I wish we had better software for church treasurers created at the Division level with better reporting options for church boards. A quarter of the pastors (25%) feel that stewardship education in the next five years needs to emphasize clear communication, especially open disclosure about how funds are being used by the church (especially tithe dollars). Many feel this is essential for younger generations. A quarter of the pastors (25%) also stress that reaching younger generations needs to be the focus of stewardship education. Some spoke of seeing problems with giving coming in the future. The older generations are dying off and the younger ones are either not committed or unaware of how stewardship works in our church. One pastor said, There is a generational shift taking place and we need to reach new mindsets. Another said, Younger generations generally aren t as quick to want to send their money up the system. Related to this area is the suggestion that we be open to consider diverse ways to use tithes and offerings. Other comments made by two or three pastors: Educate more members in the basics of stewardship Communicate that stewardship is about commitment to Christ first, not about money Deal with the funding challenges of Adventist education (for example, create an annuity plan or create a fund for every child) Require every seminarian to take a class in finances Emphasize a wholistic approach to stewardship Comments made by one pastor in each case: Deal with the issue of the NAD using independent ministries (which take away from local giving) Totally revamp the plan for loaning money to churches (too many building projects are not sustainable and too expensive) Teach every pastor how to conduct stewardship education in the local church Share with us more success stories on stewardship education in North America Pastor Poll on Stewardship: August 2012 Page 9 of 9